


Look At The Stars

by dnawhite76, Prubbs



Series: Yellow [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Super Sons (Comics), Superman (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Background Relationships, Bruce Wayne/Tim Drake - Freeform, College, First Kiss, Love, M/M, POV Alternating, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:35:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 46,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27335791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dnawhite76/pseuds/dnawhite76, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prubbs/pseuds/Prubbs
Summary: With his parents having the highest match number in history, everyone was surprised when Damian's profile went live with no matches. Until the one person in the whole world that heshouldn'tmatch with aged into the system.
Relationships: Jon Lane Kent/Damian Wayne
Series: Yellow [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1638334
Comments: 33
Kudos: 166





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a series and so there is some back story that would enhance the story, but you don't have to read it to understand this one.

His knee shook as he sat in the waiting room. He fiddled with his phone, turning the screen on and off, and looked over to the other teens sitting in the room. A few of them had their parents with them. One of the moms was staring at his dad. 

"You don't have to be nervous," Bruce muttered and put a hand on his knee to still it. 

"Why would he call me in?" Damian asked. 

It had been six months since he completed his match assessment. Six months of his profile being completely blank. He hadn't really known how to react. Before he'd gotten his results, part of him had been terrified that he'd get a high match like his dads. But then he hadn't gotten a single match and it was almost worse. Harper had already gone on dates with two of her matches. And was talking to a few others. After the first month, Luthor Corp had locked down public access to his profile. He knew they were worried about the press discovering that the product of the highest match in history didn't have a single match. He knew that they were worried about the questions it would bring. He knew that was why Lex Luthor himself had called him into his office. He knew that was why his dads had fought the night before and he knew that was why his dad was sitting next to him in the too bright waiting room.

"Hn," his dad hummed instead of answering. He didn't know either. 

"Damian Wayne?" All of the eyes in the room darted to them as they stood. His dads were veritable celebrities and even though they both avoided the attention as much as they could people were still interested in the daily life of _The Match_ and with his and his sister's lives. 

He felt his dad's hand settle between his shoulders and relaxed as they walked through the doors. The assistant walked them through the offices to an elevator. 

"Mr. Luthor is waiting for you. Thank you for visiting Luthor Corp." 

The doors shut and Damian leaned against the wall. 

"She sounded like a robot," his dad commented. 

Damian snorted and looked over to his dad. He could see the tightness in his eyes as they rode up. The tightness that had started when Damian got his first results. He'd seen it in both of his dads' eyes. He felt like they were hiding something from him, but he didn't know what it could be. 

"Do you think I'm broken?" he asked. 

"No." 

Damian frowned and stared at his dad. He hadn't hesitated at all. He wondered if it was a question he had been asked before. Or maybe one he'd wondered himself, but refused to accept. Damian wanted to press when it was just the two of them. His dad had always been blunt and open with him. So, he knew that if he pressed harder for the truth he'd get an answer. The only thing that had him hesitating was that there was actually a truth to be told.

The elevator chimed and he pushed off the wall, turning to stand shoulder to shoulder with his dad. He lifted his chin, like his other father reminded him before they left the house before events, and the doors opened. 

"The Waynes have arrived," another assistant said into an intercom as they stepped off the elevator. 

"Send them in." 

She smiled as she opened the door. His dad let him go in first and Damian felt a little relief having him at his back as he walked into what some people said was the most powerful man in the country's office. 

"Lex," Bruce said flatly. His parents weren't those people. 

"Bruce," Lex offered. "I didn't know you would be coming." 

"I had the day off. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see an old friend." 

Lex smiled, but it looked fake. When he dared a glance at his dad he was surprised to see the same on his face. 

"Well I wanted to speak with your son myself and double check a few samples. I thought my office would be a more _private_ environment than the labs." Lex's eyes darted to Bruce and there it was again, that feeling that they were hiding something from him. "Have a seat." 

Lex put on gloves and spoke about what they were taking each sample for. There was a spark in his eyes for the first time since they walked in. Damian swallowed at the needle and his dad rubbed his knee. He hated needles. 

"I know you've answered these questions, but I am going to hand key them in. If you wish I could ask your father to step out." 

Damian looked over to Bruce and shook his head. He didn't want to be left alone now that he was here. 

"Name?" Lex asked. Damian frowned at the question, but said his name. The questions continued like that, Lex typed as Damian answered. He glanced over to his dad once, but he only looked bored. 

"Sexual Preference?" 

"None," he answered. He saw his dad turn his head a fraction. He knew he was surprised, for all that they talked, he hadn't told them yet. He hadn't seen the point. He knew that neither of his dads would care. And he wasn't the biggest fan of people so he, like a lot of other people his age, was waiting until he got his match list to date. 

"Clarify," Lex said and Damian frowned. "No preference to gender or no interest?" 

"Gender," he answered. He definitely had interest. He'd been having a recurring dream since he was 15 about two of his dads' friends. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't help the blush that happened any time Selina doted on him. She got a kick out of it which only made it worse. Lex typed. And paused. His eyes flicked to Bruce before going back to the screen. 

"Parental Match percentage?" 

"98," he answered. Lex looked at him for a long moment before typing. He looked over to his dad who looked tense again. Lex continued on asking questions and Damian answered them, watching his dad slowly relax out of the corner of his eye. Lex typed in an answer and turned to face them fully. 

"Do you have any questions?" 

"Has this happened before?" Damian asked before he could stop himself. 

"We have had a few that have had borderline matches for the first year after their assessment, but no. In my time running Perfect Match, we have never had someone that produced zero matches within their first six months." 

"Conner?" his father asked. Lex glanced over to him. 

"Three matches on first assessment," Lex answered. 

"Hn." 

Damian looked at his dad and back to Lex. He met his eyes and he knew. He knew that his parents were hiding something. That he was right. 

-

Damian felt someone tug on his foot and looked up from his book. Tim was standing at the end of the couch with a bag of take out. He shifted up and pulled his feet closer so that he could sit down. He took the container that was offered to him and opened it. He looked at Tim as he twirled a mound of noodles around the chopsticks. He grinned at him before shoving it into his mouth. Damian scoffed and ate his. He knew this was the olive branch, Tim's way of asking him if he was okay. The problem was that he didn't know if he was. To be the only person in the history of Perfect Match to ever not have a match weighed on him more than he'd expected. He pushed his toes closer and under his dad's thigh. He felt like a child, but the warmth helped the nerves that had been swirling since they left Luthor Corp. 

"It's okay to be freaked out," Tim said quietly. 

"I'm not," he said sharply. 

"Could have fooled me." 

"What if it means I'm broken? That no one's going to love me? What am I supposed to do then?" 

"You're not broken," Tim said and looked at Damian until the words sunk in. "And you're already loved. I know that you're going to hate hearing this, but you're eighteen. You have time." 

"You were eighteen when you met Dad." 

"And we both wish that I had been older. You know this. You also know that your dad didn't have any good matches until he was almost twenty." 

"But he had some. I don't have any." 

"You'll get a match." 

"You don't know that," Damian said and folded his arms around himself. He let his dad shift closer and pull him into a hug. Even though it had been five years since he was smaller than his dad he still folded against his chest and took the comfort offered to him. He listened to his dad's voice as he hummed the lullaby he'd sung him when he was little. 

-

Damian heard his grandfather's obnoxious whistle as he crossed the stage. He rolled his eyes and took the diploma. His family was sitting on the first row all yelling for him with their hands waving in the air. He stood, tried not to smile too big when they took his picture, and found his spot in line again. He could still hear his family yelling for him. He smiled as he watched the last few people walk across the stage. He stood as they congratulated him. The rest of the class tossed their hats, but he held onto his. He could hear his parents talking about losing it and then not having your cap anymore and he didn't think it was worth it. 

When they walked out, Cassandra was the first face he saw. She was beaming and ran into his arms. Even though she was only two years younger than him she took after the Drake side of the family and barely reached his shoulder. 

-Congratulations- she signed. 

"So glad I'm done with this," he groaned. She laughed and clapped him on the shoulder before they were wrapped up in a crushing hug. 

They headed out to lunch and he sat between his dads. Martha and Cass were sitting on the other end chatting back and forth. 

"So did you decide on what school you're going to?" 

"Metropolis," Damian said. He saw the flicker of confusion on his grandfather's face. 

"Metropolis? I didn't know that was one of your options." 

"They have the best art program," Bruce offered. 

"Art program?" Thomas parroted with a frown. He could feel the argument coming. Damian had been surprised that when he said, 'I think I want to get a degree in art," and his parents had just looked at each other. They'd blinked and asked him what changed his mind. For years he'd only ever wanted to follow in his family's footsteps, join WE and keep the company going. He didn't know what had changed his mind. He'd just felt the need to do it. The pull. 

"Oh I'm so glad. Your portraits are beautiful," Martha said with a hand on Thomas' arm. 

-

He woke up on one of his last days in Gotham before the move into the dorms to a notification on his Perfect Match app. He opened it and nearly dropped his phone when sitting on his screen was a single name and number

**Jonathan Kent. 27%**

"Kent," he breathed. It couldn't be that Kent. There had to be others. He clicked on the profile and stared at the parents listed. Clark and Lois. He had matched the son of the woman that had tried to ruin his parents' lives. He dropped his phone to his chest. "Great." 

\---

"Jon. You have to get up or you'll be late!" His mom called again from down the hall with her _'this time I mean business'_ voice. He groaned and looked at the giant baseball alarm clock that his dad had gotten him for his birthday last year and grimaced. It was only six. He didn't even have to be at school until eight thirty. He pulled himself out of bed feeling like he might just fall back over. He didn't bother grabbing his phone as he pulled on his most worn jeans and last season's baseball tee and his Jayhawks cap before he grabbed his bat and headed to the kitchen where his dad was talking to his mom over the paper and coffee. 

He looked entirely too happy for someone who was up at six in the morning. But he always did. Jon would never understand, no matter how many times he visited his grandparents' farm in Kansas, how any sane person could enjoy being up before the sun. But here was his dad. Almost 50. Editorial writer for the Daily Planet, Kansas born and raised, Clark Kent-- smiling at Jon like there was nothing else he would rather do on a Monday morning than go to the batting cages with his son. 

Jon smiled at him mostly out of guilt and snuck a sip of his mom's coffee before she tutted and bat his hand away with a smirk. "Are you trying to stunt your growth?" She demanded like she was put out. 

His father laughed. "I don't think you have anything to worry about Honey," he told her, taking one last sip from his cup before he stood up. Jon was almost as tall as his father was now. At the end of the last school year he'd barely made it past his shoulders but now they were practically eye to eye. 

His mom looked between them for a moment, biting her lip until she couldn't hold it in any longer. "Okay, just _one_ picture," she begged of them. 

" _Ma,_ " Jon groaned. "I haven't even showered yet."

"But it's the first time you are batting together this year," she complained and shot a begging look at her husband who was weak to her ways. 

"One," he agreed and Jon sighed but let his father pull him over to the wall so they had a ' _clean_ ' background and Jon forced on a tired smile as his mom told them to say cheese and then shooed them out the door. 

They lived in an older apartment building at the heart of the city. It had its problems, but it still had the old iron escape ladders winding down the side of the building. Jon loved them. He could climb out there at night and look out over the city and pretend that he was wherever he wanted to be. He loved that part of their condo, but he knew his parents were mostly set on it because it was equally close to work, school, and the batting cages. 

Jon walked a few blocks with his dad pretending to listen as he offered him advice on his swing. The cages were closed to the general public until around ten, but his dad had made friends with the owner a few years back and he gave him a key for private training before and after school. He followed his dad in and picked his favorite cage as his dad went to set up the machine. He pulled on the batting helmet and tapped his bat on the plate at the front of the cage. He rolled his shoulder a few times and let the first ball fly past him before he took his swing. Jon loved that sound. The sound of a bat hitting a ball into the fence. He heard his dad whistle at him on the way over and kept his eyes forward.

Jon took his dad's instruction because he knew it made him happy. He hit the way his father wanted him to hit because it gave him a reason to keep doing it. "Yes, that's it Jonny!" His dad cheered when he hit his last ball after about thirty minutes. His arms were tired and his shoulder ached, but it felt got to see his dad so excited. He pulled Jon under his arm and they waved at Pete on the way out as he came in. "You're going to be the one to keep an eye out for. I just know it."

"Yeah, we'll see." Jon laughed and pushed at him until he loosened his grip on his sore shoulder. He sighed and leaned his head against his dad. "Can you tape me up before you go to work?" 

"Course kiddo," he told him, kissing the top of his head before he made a noise of disgust at all the sweat. 

His mom was already gone when they made it back home, a sticky note on the coffee pot telling Jon not to drink it which he ignored and grabbed a cup anyway. He showered and let his dad tape up his shoulder before he changed into newer jeans and the DnD hoodie Bart had gotten him for his birthday that was a twenty sided die saying _game changer_. He attempted to get his hair to stop curling but when that failed he just put his cap back on and pushed his glasses into place. Jon had just called out to his dad that he was heading out when he remembered his phone was still plugged in on his night stand and headed back to shove it in his pocket and rushed out before he missed his train. 

It was only two stops to Metro High School. Most of the kids in his class drove, but Jon had never seen the point in getting his license living in the city. Most of the kids on the train were a few years younger than him, but they didn't stop them from whispering around him. 

It hadn't always been this way. A few years before Jon had been one of the losers, a total nerd who played DnD on the weekend and played baseball with a private league. It was his dad that had pushed Jon to try out for the school team. And since he didn't want to disappoint him, he did it. 

After that no one thought of Jon as a nerd. Even though he was still the DM of his friends' DnD campaign and had annual Lord of the Rings marathons with his dad, as soon as he got onto the team his loser switch had been flipped off. He tried to ignore all the muttering. It was easier than the giggles coming from the corner of the car where a group of girls was watching him. He sighed and pulled out his phone, blinking when he saw that there was a new notification on his Match profile. He stared at it for a minute before he decided to ignore it and opened his last text thread. 

**JK:** I would do anything for coffee right now.

**BL:** Blow me for it? 

**JK:** Anything. 

**BL:** Wow you really are desperate. 

**BL:** I'll get the goods. 

**BL:** Meet me at the usual spot.

The usual spot was in the school auditorium. Bart did all of the tech for the theater department and he claimed that the air was just a little crisper and happier when they were facing the stage. Jon dropped into a chair in the back by the sound booth, leaning back slowly while his shoulder fussed at him. It didn't take long for the seat next to him to be filled by his best friend who handed him a giant iced coffee with his trademark grin. 

"Back to early morning practices?" He asked with a quirk of his eyebrow. Jon just grunted and sucked down the sweet nectar of life. "I thought the plan was to tell your dad you were over baseball before school started."

"He was too excited." Jon sighed. His dad was always too excited. They had been working toward Jon playing professional ball since he was practically in diapers and Jon didn't know how he was supposed to tell him that he wasn't sure he wanted it now that they were nearly there. And Jon loved baseball. He just didn't know if that was all he wanted to be for the rest of his life. 

Bart sighed back at him exaggeratedly. He had already given him the speech about living his own life a few weeks before and it sat fresh between them. "Alright, I have fueled you. Now pay up." He attempted a somber expression but Jon didn't think Bart's face was physically capable of that. 

"And defile myself for my future soulmate?" Jon asked in a deadpan that was meant to be funny but he was too tired. Then he remembered the notification on his phone. "Oh, I got my match report today." 

"Anyone we know?" 

"Dunno." He shrugged and drank his coffee, "I haven't looked yet."

Bart blinked at him, for once completely unamused. "Leave it to you to be the only person on the Planet not immediately interested in who his _soulmate_ is." He held out his hand for Jon's phone. "Gimme."

Jon grinned and forked his phone over laying his head on Bart's shoulder as he opened the app. They watched the loading page and Jon was glad that he'd logged in right after his assessment so that he didn't have to go through the app tutorial again. Bart still had a few months before he turned eighteen so the Match profile was new to both of them when it loaded and only showed one match. 

**Damian Wayne. 27%**

They both just blinked at it for a moment and Bart refreshed the page. "That's it?" He asked and turned to Jon with an actual frown. " _One_ match? Is that normal?"

"I don't know." Jon shrugged and took his phone back. "I just got put in the system. But I'm pretty sure most people have more." He was positive that they did. When Gar was put in a month before Jon he'd had five possible matches. His mom had told him that she'd had three and his father had seven when he'd opened his profile for the first time. Supposedly they fell off over time as they started matching and marrying out of the system and of course a few were added as new matches aged into the system. As far as Jon knew he was the only person in the history of Perfect Match to have just one after his first assessment. 

He clicked on the profile link and looked over the picture that was looking back at him. He was handsome, broad shoulders and dark hair. He wasn't smiling but his eyes were green and a little mischievous and Jon couldn't help but smile at it. 

"He's hot?" Bart asked looking over his shoulder. 

Jon laughed. "Yeah he is." He scrolled down to see the rest of his profile but all that he locked in on was the list of possible matches under his horoscope. The only name there was his. "Okay. This is weird right?" Jon asked, looking at Bart. He was still frowning at the screen when he turned back. "I'm going to message him."

"What? No!"

"Why not?" Jon demanded. 

"It's only a 27% match," Bart told him like he was crazy. "Yeah he's attractive but-"

"He's my only match," Jon told him, holding his phone in front of him as a reminder. "And _I'm_ his only match. Even if It's low that has to mean… something, right?" 

Bart just looked at loss for what to say as the warning bell rang signaling their first class. He shoved his phone back in his pocket and followed Bart out of the auditorium unable to help but feel that he was right. 

-

Jon was exhausted by the time he got home. Even though it was the first day, his last class was athletics which meant baseball. Almost the entire team had been juniors last year so they were still there and it was fun to practice with them. The coach had Jon pitching from when class started to when the last bell rang and had told him the same thing his father had that morning. _This is your year Jonny._

His parents were still at work when he got home so he made himself a peanut butter sandwich and shoved it in his mouth while he stripped off his bag and shoes inside his room. He sat at his desk and chewed, straightening one of his figures before he kicked his feet up and booted up his computer. It was old. Older than he was, but it still managed to kick on easily. He tapped his fingers on the mouse before he typed in Perfect Match to the search bar and let it take him to the website. He logged into his account and clicked through until he was back on Damian's profile. 

**Damian Thomas Wayne**

_18 years old._

_6 foot, 2 inches._

_Student at Metropolis University._

Jon hadn't read that the first time. He tapped his fingers again. At least he was in the same city as Jon and how often did that actually happen? The little budding voice in his head kept telling him this was _something_ and so he continued through the profile. 

Damian was a sagittarius which meant as fire signs they were a perfect fit. If that was all that they had in common it didn't show because the personal section of his profile was marked out. Jon frowned scrolling past his own name to see Damian's parents. Bruce and Tim Wayne. The name sounded familiar but he didn't think too hard about it when he saw their match score. 98%

"Holy cow," he muttered sitting back in his chair. 

He bit at his bottom lip and scrolled back up to the top of the page looking at Damian Wayne one more time before he clicked on the message box. 

**Message From:** _Jonathan Kent_ account #876990

_August 23rd 2045_

_(New message)_ |

Jon stared at the cursor for a minute before he pushed back his nerves and wrote out a simple message. 

**Message From:** _Jonathan Kent_ account #876990

_August 23rd 2045_

_Does it feel weirdly cosmic to you that we're each other's only match?_

He hit send before he could chicken out and sat back in his chair again, waiting. He waited for a full minute before he sighed and let his head fall back wondering how stupid he had to be to think he would just message back. His door opened and Jon jumped almost into the air as his mom peeked her head into the room. 

"There you are." She smiled. "Stop hiding and come tell me about your first…" She looked at the message screen. "Is that… did you match?" 

Jon exited out of the browser before she could look at it and swallowed as his mother walked over. "Y-yeah." He shrugged like it was nothing. "Nothing high. Th-they're all in the thirties." 

"There's nothing wrong with that," his mother told him with a smile that made him feel almost guilty. "You'll find the right girl eventually. Don't let numbers scare you." He pulled off his hat and smoothed his hair back. "Come help me with dinner?"

"I'll be there in just a sec," he promised and watched her back out the door smiling at her happiness. It fell off when it shut behind her. He had never meant to keep it from his parents. He knew they would understand. His mother was an activist. She supported gay rights with strangers all of the time. But he was scared. Because what if it was different? What if they supported him but nothing was the same? He ran a hand through his hair and got up, pushing those thoughts from his head. He didn't have to deal with that now or maybe ever. Maybe Bart was right. With his parents' match being a 98, why wouldn't Damian hold out for something better?

-

"Cosmic?" he whispered to himself. 

"What did you say?" Selina asked. 

"Huh?" Damian put his phone back down on the table. 

"You said something."

"No, I didn't."

Selina frowned at him. He looked right back at her. "You're just as bad a liar as your dad. What's on your phone?" 

He frowned and looked around at the restaurant. Selina's eyes sparked when he leaned forward. "I got a match." 

"That's awesome. Why didn't Bruce tell me?" Selina said with a frown. "You didn't tell them," she said after a moment. He shook his head. "Why not?"

He opened his phone and slid it over to her. 

"Cosmic," she whispered. 

"What does that even mean?" he asked and leaned over the table. She laughed and rubbed his head. 

"Are you going to message him back?" 

"I should right? He does have a point. We are each other's _only_ matches."

Selina clicked through a few things and he watched her face. He could never tell what she was thinking. When he was younger he'd been terrified of her. Then it had turned into a crush. And now, while he still thought she was unfairly beautiful, she had become one of his favorite people. 

"Oops," she said and slid him his phone back. 

_**Message From** : Damian Wayne account #872413 _

_August 23rd, 2045_

_Fate. Destiny. The cosmos. Or a billionaire with an algorithm. I'm just glad I finally got a match._

He looked up at Selina. 

"What did you do?" 

"You wanted to talk to him. So talk. And don't get so caught up in the match thing."

"Kind of hard to do when your parents-" 

"Your parents dated like the rest of us."

He looked at Selina. She looked right back. 

"Whatever. It's only a 27% match." 

"Kid. Talk to him. I got your dad out of our match. Maybe you'll find yourself a friend." He looked down and nodded. Selina's phone chirped. "That's your sister. Let's go get her." 

After they picked up Cass from ballet, they went to the movies. Cass convinced them to watch the latest horror flick and Damian spent most of the movie wishing he wasn't sitting on the end. Selina and Cass were huddled together laughing as they screamed. He felt like something was going to grab him the entire time. He shouted when Selina tapped his hand to ask for the popcorn. He handed it to her and stared at the corner of the screen. 

As they got in the car Selina looked over to him. "I'm going to miss our date nights. I'm sure me and Cass will have some fun without you." She looked in the mirror before pulling onto the road. "I can't believe you're going to be in college." She squeezed his cheek and he swatted at her hand as he felt blush rush to his cheeks. "Remember. No dick pics. And call me if you get drunk in public." 

He could hear Cass' quiet laugh and shot her a look. She just grinned at him. And signed dick pic at him. He rolled his eyes. 

"I don't plan on doing either," he said. 

"Right. Call me. It's my job to keep your stupid butt out of the newspapers."

Selina dropped them off and the doorman waved as they walked through the lobby. He was going to miss their building. It was old, but had been remodeled. His dad liked it because of the gated elevator. His other dad liked it because of the square footage. Cass tapped her finger along to the beat of her music while they headed upstairs. He pushed open the door. 

The remnants of his parents' dinner was in the sink. Music drifted down the hall from their bedroom and Cass wrinkled her nose as she grinned at him. He rolled his eyes and shoved her toward her room. He tossed his bag on the couch and went to do the dishes. 

-

"I thought you were going to have a roommate?" Bruce asked as he set down the last box. Damian shrugged. They'd waited until the last time slot to move in. "Maybe you should ask." 

Damian grabbed his phone and scrolled through the emails. He saw one from his RA and opened it. "My roommate dropped out. So I get a private room this semester."

His dad frowned. He knew he had been hoping that he'd become friends with his roommate. He'd heard him tell Tim that it was like having a built in friend.

"The kid across the hall is an arts major too," he suggested. Theater arts, but still art. He doubted that they'd be friends, but it seemed to put his dad at ease. 

"Okay. Well, if you're settled. I'll head out." 

"Thanks," he said and hugged him. He'd already gotten one tearful goodbye and expected the second when he heard the sniffle. "I'll be back in a few months."

"And you'll text." 

"Everyday," Damian agreed. 

Bruce looked at him for a long time, his eyes shiny, before rubbing his hair. "I love you, kid. Have fun here."

He nodded and watched his dad step out into the hall. 

\---

Jon watched Bart from over the top of his knees as he sat at his desk and read his open message. It had been sitting there for two days just waiting to be answered. He'd opened it before school on Wednesday and just stared at it like an idiot for ten minutes before his mom called for him to get dressed and come eat breakfast. He let it sit unanswered for the entire day, burning in his back pocket until Bart came home with him on Thursday and he could have him help. 

Thursday nights were game night at Bart's parents house. The Kent's had been going for years and they were highly competitive. They were usually out until one or two in the morning and Jon, Bart and Gar would use the time to work on one of their campaigns. But Gar had just moved into his dorm and had new friends to make and people to hang out with. "To replace us with," Bart had corrected on the subway over to Jon's apartment earlier that afternoon. Jon was too distracted to argue with him. 

So he sat on his bed, leaning against the headboard as he waited for Bart to say something inspiring. But he didn't. Instead he leaned back in Jon's computer chair far enough for it to groan in protest and put his hand to his chin like Winnie the Pooh and said, "So he's funny," like it was a new detail of an existing predicament. 

Jon sighed. "I wasn't planning on him being funny," he grumped and let his head fall back against the wall. "Funny people expect people to be funny in return, right?"

"How should I know?" 

"You're funny," Jon offered with a shrug. 

Bart made a weird face and put a hand to his chest. "Dude," he said and bat his eyes at him. Jon threw his pillow at him and laughed. "What? I think you're funny- in a self deprecating totally hopeless nerd kind of way." Jon picked up his other pillow and Bart held up his hands. "Why do you even need help with this? You're _good_ at talking to people. You reached out first right? Just… do it again." 

"It's not that easy." Jon sighed leaning forward and rubbing at his eyes. His contacts were bothering him. He had typed out five different responses and deleted every one of them. Nothing felt right. This felt important. More important than he thought Bart would understand with the match percent being so low. 

His phone rang on the desk next to Bart and Bart picked it up with a grimace. And with a pout, he put it on speaker. "Well look who's come crawling back."

Gar chuckled from the other end and Jon could hear music around him. "Stop whining and give the phone to Jon," he told him, not an inch of malice in his voice. Gar could never actually ditch them because he was just too good of a guy. Jon had never heard him actually angry in his life, which he thought was strange seeing as he was going to be an actor, and he wasn't surprised to hear him laughing now. 

"You're on speaker," Jon told him laying out on his stomach across the bed to get closer. "Ignore Bart, he's trying to help me with a problem."

"What? The match thing?" 

Bart hissed. "You told him first?"

"I texted him when I told you," Jon said under his breath. 

Gar didn't hear them. "I told you already just to be yourself. You're the most likeable guy I know. And Ray says you're like super hot too, so-" There was a crash and a cheer somewhere around him and Gar laughed. "Anyway, don't think about that now! I know your parents are out and the freshmen dorm is throwing a rager. Come on! College party!" 

"Dude, no. If our parents find out, we're dead," Bart hissed at him as Jon grabbed the phone. He checked the time it was only nine. 

"I don't know…" he muttered looking at Bart who was shaking his head with narrowed eyes. 

"C'mon Jonny!" Gar whined at him. "Don't make me have my first college party without my boys. Do you want us to grow apart and never talk again?"

"Brutal dude," Bart groaned and Jon laughed. 

"Yeah, okay, we're coming." He pinched Bart when he groaned again and he yelped as Gar cheered. 

"Dude, yes! If you aren't here in thirty I'm coming to find you," he warned them and hung up. 

Jon sighed and pushed off of the bed walking over to his closet to pull his game changer hoodie on again. Bart just watched him, mouth slightly agape as he pulled he ran a hand through his hair. It just curled uselessly so he sighed and put his hat on and added a few drops to his eyes to loosen up his dry contacts. 

"Catching flies?" He asked.

"Our parents are going to catch us." 

"Not if you don't tell them this time," Jon said shooting him a look. 

Bart stood up looking offended. "That's not fair. You don't have my mom. She's like a human lie detector."

"Both of my parents are reporters," Jon told him, rolling his eyes as he walked out of the room with Bart trailing unhappily after him. 

" _Human. Lie. Detector,_ " Bart said slower, clapping along with his words. Jon just laughed and threw his arm over his shoulder as he led him out the door. 

-

The party was already raging by the time they walked onto campus. They could hear it at the entrance that Bart stood at for five minutes, convinced you had to have a student ID to walk on the grounds. It was hard not to laugh at him as he looked around widely to see if they were being tailed. Jon just grabbed his arm and pulled him along, catching the door to the dorm Gar had given them the address for as someone left. 

He was right not to worry. No one looked twice at the two highschool boys crashing the party. Everyone there looked like they could have been in their class, but Jon had figured as much. They were freshmen. How much different could they be? Bart didn't see it that way. He clung to Jon's side as they made their way up to the second floor as drunk eighteen year olds laughed too loudly and awkwardly bobbed their heads to the strange assortment of music coming from various open doors. 

It was easy to find Gar. He'd dyed his hair green for graduation and his parents had been furious when he threw his cap up in the air and saw it. He was at the end of the hall where a bunch of people had gathered. He jumped and waved when he saw Jon and Bart walking toward them, running over to pull them into a monster hug. 

"The gangs all together!" He sang and Jon smelled the sugar monstrosity on his breath as he pulled them over to the group he'd been entertaining. There was a group of girls who looked like theater kids, one of them with a guy wrapped around her and then a tall kid with dark hair and green- "Damian, this is my friend Jon!" Gar said practically shoving Jon into the guy whose message he had been staring at for two days. 

He flushed slightly and caught himself on Damian's chest. Gar was still somewhere next to him talking but he could barely hear it. He had to look up to see his eyes. He swallowed and smiled like a complete idiot as he took a step back. "Sorry, I just don't usually have to look up at people," he offered his hand to him. "J-"

"Jon likes dudes," Gar said winding his arm around Jon's shoulders. He could have hit him. He elbowed him trying to get through to his friend that he was ruining his cosmic connection with his drunkenness, but Damian just looked amused and Gar did not stop. "He's gay. Like super gay. Totally about dudes. As gay as someone can b-"

"Gar, just-" He shoved him off and took a breath to shake off the embarrassment. "Yeah. I'm Jon. The token gay friend." 

"Damian," he replied, shaking his hand. Jon watched his eyes carefully but didn't see any recognition there. He was looking so closely that he almost missed him say, "Also _'totally about dudes'_ " 

Jon blinked at his forwardness, a surge of pleasure running up his spine as he smiled again and cleared his throat. "So, uh. Want to find a drink with me?" he said, hooking his thumb out of the circle. 

Damian hadn't really meant to let Gar drag him to the party. He'd been heading to the library when the lime haired kid had stepped out of his room and declared that he was coming. Going to the party really only meant heading down a flight of stairs. He was grateful that he could escape whenever he wanted. 

Gar handed him a cup and Damian stared at the odd color before smelling it. He coughed, just from the smell, and Gar let out a sharp breath as he finished his cup in one solid chug. 

"Drink up." 

He poured the cup out when Gar wasn't looking and followed him around. He greeted a couple of the other freshmen he'd met over the summer during orientation. He watched a group of guys carry a mattress down the hall and decided that his empty cup really was the best idea. Plus Selina would probably kill him if he got drunk on his first day away from home. 

He turned away for a moment to watch a guy's attempt to swallow a whole pickle and when he turned back after the guy had failed miserably Gar was gone. He looked up and saw him pull an odd pair of guys into a hug. 

"Damian, this is my friend Jon!" 

Damian barely got to look at the guy before he was colliding with him. Blue eyes looked up at him and Damian swore he forgot how to breathe. He'd never seen a color like that before. They reminded him of the ocean on this stretch of beach in Italy. They looked like the sky on a sunny day in the spring. They were warm and bright and he felt like he could spend the rest of his life describing them and never truly capture the color. 

"Sorry, I just don't usually have to look up at people," the guy said and held out his hand. "J-"

"Jon likes dudes," Gar said loudly. Damian looked at the irritation on the guy, Jon's, face, and felt a bubble of amusement. He hadn't known Gar long, but he knew that was a face that his friends wore often. "He's gay. Like super gay. Totally about dudes. As gay as someone can b-"

"Gar, just-" Damian watched Gar stumble off and tug the redheaded kid into a conversation with the girls. "Yeah. I'm Jon. The token gay friend." 

"Damian." He shook his hand. And without really thinking said, "Also 'totally about dudes'" 

"So, uh. Want to find a drink with me?"

Damian looked down the hall and took Jon's hand to pull him to the last drink station he'd seen. Jon's hand was rough. He looked down at it, then back to Jon who was staring at their hands. He let go when he realized he hadn't said anything. Jon's fingers followed his as he pulled them away. 

"What do you drink?" he asked leaning close as they passed a loud room. 

"I don't know?" Jon replied. "Whatever they have. You?" Damian looked at Jon then the empty cup he was still holding in his other hand. 

"I've never drank before," he admitted. "This is my first party," he added feeling like he should.

They stepped into the hallway that led to the bathrooms, but that was filled with kegs and a couple ice chests. He wondered, not for the first time, how they had gotten all of this.

"Not even in high school?" Jon asked. The truth was sitting on his tongue, 'I didn't have any friends' but he swallowed it back and shook his head. 

"Well then, we need to find you a beer pong game," Jon said and filled a cup with pale amber liquid. 

Jon's hand slid against his again and he tugged him down the hall, they looked in rooms as they passed them until Jon looked back at him with a smile. He hoped the cheer that erupted in that moment hid the noise that squeaked out of him. Jon did the talking, moving around the table until they were the next pair to go. He watched the game as it came to an end and thought that it couldn't be too hard. 

He was wrong. 

He felt hot as he leaned onto Jon's shoulder while he waited for his turn. They had barely won the first game, Jon's laser precision working in their favor. Damian had yet to make the ball in a cup. The second game was not going as well. They had only three cups in front of them and Jon had only made his first shot of the game. Damian was pretty sure he was drunk. He'd never been drunk before though. So maybe he wasn't. 

"It's your turn," Jon said softly. Damian lifted his head and stood up straight. The girls that they were playing against smiled at him. He blinked a couple times and looked at the cups. He could do this. He could make this tiny ball go into one of those stupid red cups. He threw the ball and closed his eyes. He heard a thwup and silence. When he opened his eyes one of the girls was fishing the ball out of the cup. 

"I made it?" he asked and turned to Jon. "I made it." Jon laughed and accepted the overexcited hug. "We're still going to lose," he groaned. 

"Don't say that," Jon said and grinned. There was a spark in his eyes that died out when the girls both made their shots and the game ended quickly. 

Damian tripped a little when they stepped away from the table. Jon pulled his arm over his shoulder. "Am I drunk? I wasn't supposed to be," he mumbled. 

"I think you're drunk," Jon said with a giggle. He'd been laughing a lot. Damian liked it. He touched his lips, still curled in a smile. Jon's giggling stopped. Damian looked at his finger, then Jon's eyes with their impossibly blue hue, and kissed him. He felt a noise of surprise against his lips, then Jon moved and Damian wasn't being supported anymore. 

"Oop," he said as he dropped to the ground. 

"Oh shoot. I'm sorry," Jon said and rushed to help him up. 

"It's okay," he replied with a wave of his hand. "I like how your hands feel," he told Jon as he helped him back to his feet. He ran his hand over Jon's, tracing over his palm and following the creases in it. Traced the unbroken line cutting across his hand before running his finger tip up Jon's forefinger. He looked at Jon who was staring at their hands again. Jon's eyes flicked up to his. Their hands got caught between them as Jon kissed him. He felt something shift behind him and then heard a disgruntled 'Hey'. Jon giggled again. Damian stared, mesmerized by seeing it so close. 

"My room is upstairs," he said. Jon blinked, eyes darkening like an oncoming storm. 

"Okay," he replied and let Damian take his hand again. 

It felt like they were entering another world as they stepped out onto the empty floor. The music and noise of the party below was muffled and so far away. He took a breath as he opened his door. He looked around at the barely unpacked room. Most of his boxes sat in the corner at the foot of the unused bed. His shoes were lined up impeccably against the wall by the door and he slid his shoes off even as he wished he hadn't said anything about his dorm. The only box he had unpacked was the one with his sketchbooks. He had more than he thought he'd ever finish. They sat in stacks on his desk and the table next to his bed. One sat on his window sill from where he'd gotten bored earlier. Another in the middle of his bed. Jon kicked his shoes off, they fell over and sat half on top of each other, but before he could fix them Jon kissed him again. 

Jon had felt so confident when they were a floor down still in the confusing haze of music-- but all of that sort of drifted away once the dorm door shut behind them. Damian's room was far from unpacked. Only one of the beds was made up and there were boxes stacked neatly in the corner by a straight line of entirely too clean shoes that Damian tucked his in next to. Jon watched him in his warm haze trying to hold onto this moment. Their first moment alone. 

He remembered what his dad had told him about seeing his mom for the first time. How his heart had nearly beat out of his chest and he felt so sick, but knew that he had to talk to her. To see her smile at him. Jon watched as Damian turned back to him and he didn't look so confident either. He looked nervous and a little confused and like he wasn't sure what they were supposed to do next. And all Jon knew was that he didn't want Damian to look at him like that anymore. 

He kicked off his shoes and walked over to him. He stumbled slightly knocking then both down onto the bed and kissed Damian while he was still half on his lap. His lips were warm and there was still a citrusy sting of beer on them that tasted a lot better on his mouth. And as much as it urged Jon to lean in further and explore, he pulled back to get a look at the emerald of his eyes again with his blown wide pupils starting to come back into themselves. 

Jon moved back, sitting on the bed next to him and fixing his hat. He put his hand down to help hold him up and blinked down at the black book that was laying there. He picked it up and Damian put his hand over the cover before he could flip it open. "Oh, sorry." He smacked the side of his head and smiled lazily at him. "That was rude of me." 

"No, it's fine," Damian told him and blinked. "Just… that one is new." He looked around him and grabbed one off the top of the stack on his nightstand and traded him. 

Jon traced his hand over the cover of it, letting the soft leather bumps slide across his callused fingers. It felt nice. Like it was made for someone with a softer touch. He could see Damian looking at him almost nervously and looked up at him through his eyelashes before he scooted over to them until they were sitting thigh to thigh and opened it. Damian leaned into him slightly as he flipped open to the first page. It was filled with tons of little unfinished figures dancing elegantly across the pages until it turned into a beautiful scetch of a delicate looking ballerina at the turn of the page. Jon smiled and Damian ran a finger over the outline. "That's my sister, Cassandra," he told him, leaning closer. "She's been dancing for… forever." 

"Older or younger?" Jon asked turning the page to another drawing of her grinned at him. She looked so small and happy and had a little squint in her left eye from smiling too hard. 

"Younger. Two years."

Jon sighed. "I bet that was nice." 

"You don't have siblings?" Damian asked like he was surprised. 

"Nope," Jon told him and looked up at Damian again who was watching him like Jon was a puzzle he could put together. "My mom had a really hard time when she was pregnant with me. So she had to get a hysterectomy right after." He looked back at the book and smiled at the next page, this time Cassandra was in profile looking down at a book in her lap. "I always wanted a brother. Someone to impart my mountains of wisdom on," he teased and elbowed Damian. 

"They wouldn't listen if you did." Damian snorted and turned the next page for him. This drawing was in full color and it was an almost terrifying looking girl with a multicolored mohawk. "That's my friend Harper. She has a little brother, Cullen who she insists that she hates."

"That's just because she has one." Jon shrugged and smiled when he turned the page. It was the same girl hugging a kid that looked maybe a year younger. "See?" He flipped through the rest of the book looking at picture after picture of people that Damian knew or people he had seen until he didn't feel so buzzed and his head wasn't so hot. Sometimes stopping when he needed a minute more to appreciate what he was seeing. "These are amazing," he told him when he was reaching the end of it. "Like really amazing." He looked up at Damian but he was watching him again and his eyes were too intense for Jon to hold his gaze for too long. 

He bit his lip and looked down at the last page of the sketch book as he shut the back cover. "So I'm guessing you're an art major."

"You are a very astute guesser."

Jon grinned and pushed him making him laugh. He wanted to swallow it. He cleared his throat and gathered himself back together. He looked around at the blanket he was sitting on and the clothes that were in one of the open boxes. "You have a lot of black stuff for an art major," he commented. 

"It makes color pop," he told him and popped the 'P' making Jon smile. Damian leaned in and kissed the smile right off of him, pushing the lip of his hat up. He chased after his mouth when he pulled away and Damian was smiling at him when he opened his eyes. He felt his face burn slightly as his eyes dropped to his mouth, crooked and just open enough for Jon to see the perfect white edges of his teeth as his lips moved. 

"What?" He asked. 

Damian smirked at him. "What about you? What's your major?" 

Jon laughed and shook his head. "Oh, I don't have one," he told him and Damian looked confused. "I'm a senior at Metropolis Central High," he explained. "Summer kid, pretty sure I'm the oldest in my class. Gar is my best friend. He's the only one in our group that graduated last year and I think he was just scared to do his first college party alone." 

Damian looked like that was impossible. "He seemed the exact opposite of scared to me." 

Jon smiled at him and reached out to push a stray hair back into place. "You'll see. He chose you as one of his people. That means he's about to open all of his crazy up on you." 

"Do you want to give me a rundown on what to look out for?" 

Jon shook his head letting his hand run down Damian's neck. He was so warm. "I really don't want to talk about Gar, right now," he admitted a little shyly. His voice cracked but he was talking low enough that he didn't think it sounded too ridiculous. Damian didn't seem to think so either. He accepted Jon into his space easily, hands sliding over his back and under his hoodie as he pulled him closer in. He felt the smallest of brushes of his pinky against the small of his back and gasped out a noise he'd never known that people actually made in real life. 

And Jon did taste him. Carefully. Licking at the beer still on his breath and the salt of his tongue like he was trying a new flavor of ice cream. He liked it. He wanted more of it-- but his phone buzzed in his pocket and then it buzzed again and he knew that he couldn't ignore it. 

Jon sighed, pulling away and hissing out an apology as he pulled out his phone and saw the texts from Bart demanding to know where he was and that his parents had just texted to see how things were going. "Shoot," he mumbled and stood up, Damian frowning at him. "I'm sorry, but I have to go."

"I…" Damian stood up and looked like he wanted to say something but stopped and frowned. "It was nice meeting you."

Jon smiled at him and nodded still half out the door. "You could say it was _cosmic_ ," he told him and snuck a quick kiss on Damian's baffled face before he said, "Goodbye Damian Wayne," and rushed off to find Bart. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all and welcome to the obligatory Super Sons third story. Hopefully everyone who has enjoyed our Bruce and Tim will also enjoy our Jon and Damian and vice versa. But it not-- we loved writing this story anyway<3
> 
> If you are an American, this story posts the day before Election day, and if you are of age and able to vote-- please do so. It's important. Young voters are the voice of new America. Just do it. Don't let your dreams be dreams. Like Shia LaBeouf told you to do.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the new story! Byeeeeeee!
> 
> -Prubbs


	2. Chapter 2

They barely made it home before Jon's parents showed up. His mom looked a few glasses of wine too spent to notice the flush of Jon's face or the spill on Bart's shirt. They wished them a simple goodnight and Bart grumbled how entirely too close that all had been as he grabbed his bag and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Jon watched him out the door before he opened his computer which was still on the message he had on match. 

He hit reply. 

_**Message From:** Jonathan Kent  account #876990 _

_ August 24th 2045 _

You let me see what your 'thing' is. Tomorrow let me show you mine. Meet me at (this address) off the square at 7pm. 

He sent the message and smiled, sucking his lip between his teeth as he remembered the feel of Damian's mouth on his. He opened a new message. 

_**Message From:** Jonathan Kent  account #876990 _

_ August 24th 2045 _

Your eyes are really beautiful. 

  
  


He hit send and closed his laptop before he could embarrass himself further. 

-

Damian's hand itched for a pencil before the door had even shut. He sketched Jon's smile moments before he said that word, the word, their word:  _ cosmic _ . Maybe it was a little cosmic. They'd matched and met by accident not even a full week later. He spent most of his time trying to get the curl of his lips right and the crinkle around his eyes. Then as he dug for his colored pencils that were still tucked away in a box, his phone chimed. It was a small trill of a noise. He smiled and grabbed his bag from the box before climbing back onto his bed and grabbing his phone. 

A new message alert sounded as he opened his phone. His heart swelled in his chest.  _ His eyes _ . Damian felt his muscles relax as he smiled. It really was him. 

_**Message From:** Damian Wayne account #872413 _

_ August 24th 2045 _

I look forward to seeing your  _ thing _ . 

Yours are too. 

He hit send then immediately felt like he should have said something different. He tossed his phone on his pillow and picked a blue. He didn't know how long he spent combining colors stroke by stroke, but when he finally felt like he had gotten the right color the sky was dark, but he could see the edges of light on the horizon through the gaps in the buildings. He left the sketchbook open on his bedside table before sleep dragged him under. 

-

**HT** : How was your first party?! 

Damian blinked at the text from Harper. His stomach growled unhappily when he rolled over. 

**DW** : My stomach is trying to eat me from the inside. 

**HT** : Bacon. Lots of bacon.

**DW** : I don't know where to find bacon. And it's almost two. 

He couldn't believe that he'd slept so late. His parents didn't let him sleep past ten even on weekends. 

**HT:** Get a burger. Big Belly! 

Damian hummed. Big Belly did sound good. He could practically taste the avocado. 

**HT** : Tell me about your party. 

**DW** : I played beer pong, got drunk, and made out with a guy. 

His phone rang as he was sliding into his shoes. 

"You can't be serious!" Harper screeched. He winced and his head gave a throb. 

"I am," he replied, feeling a little proud. He'd stepped so far out of his comfort zone the night before. But it was worth it. He'd met his match. He knew how his match's hands felt. What his lips tasted like. 

"Wow. Who knew college was all it took to get you out of your shell?" 

He spent the rest of the walk to the Big Belly at the campus food court listening to Harper complain about living at home and going to school. She didn't ask about his match, and why would she. He hadn't told her. But when he thought about telling her, the reality of who it was crept back in and he stopped. He told Harper he'd talk to her later when he walked in the small store. 

He thought about texting Selina, but the night before felt different, special, and he wanted to keep it to himself for a little while. 

He spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and trying to find the perfect place for everything. He moved his desk and the other bed around until finally shoving it up against his own and putting his rarely used easel and desk in the corner. He barely had time to shower before getting ready. An idea struck him as he reached for a pair of pants and he grabbed another. He didn't have time to do his hair so he pulled on a beanie. He looked at himself in the mirror on the inside of his closet door and hummed. 

He caught himself power walking the blocks to the square and each time made himself slow down. He could feel the time creeping up on him and sped up. He couldn't be late. He turned the corner with a few minutes to spare and smiled when he saw Jon waiting out front, fidgeting as he looked down the street. Damian was glad he saw him first because he got to watch the smile bloom on his face when he turned and saw him. 

"Hey," he offered, coming to a stop in front of Jon. Jon looked up at him, and still seemed surprised that he was taller, even if only by an inch or two. 

"Hello," Jon offered in a breathy voice. "You're-- colorful today." 

Damian grinned. "I wanted to prove to you that I owned color. Plus, I've been told this color is good for my eyes." 

"Uh. Yeah. It is." 

"So is baseball or knitting your thing?" he asked when Jon just looked at him for a few seconds. He pointed to the two storefronts that were next to each other. 

"Baseball," he answered and held out his hand to Damian. He took it and they walked into the shop and through the store out into the back where the netting and machines were. He hadn't been to batting cages in years. Not since Harper lost interest in it much to Dick's sorrow. He thought back to the early days when Dick helped him hold the bat and guided his hands where they should be, his chest a solid weight against Damian's back. He thought of Jon's hands doing the same and made a conscious effort to forget anything he'd ever learned about baseball in that moment. Jon knew all of the people working. And led him down to the best stall. He'd given him a conspiratorial wink and told him that the machine was a few miles slower than it was set. 

He watched Jon through the cage while he showed him how to stand and talked through where to swing. Damian watched his shoulders flex under his shirt. 

Damian shed his jacket and was glad his shirt was a cotton material when Jon summoned him up. 

"Wait. You're right handed. You should stand on this side," Jon said when Damian stepped into the spot Jon had just vacated. 

"I'm not. Leftie," he said and raised his left hand. 

"Huh. Me too," Jon said. He kicked Damian's shoe lightly to get him to widen his stance and told him to take a couple swings. Jon made a noise and shifted his hands on the bat. Then when Damian still didn't swing correctly, he stepped up behind him. Their similarities in height didn't have the same overwhelming feeling of being surrounded as Damian remembered, but he could feel Jon's hip shift and his breath against his neck and thanked Selina for everything she'd ever taught him. He swung and then a few more times before Jon stepped back. He felt his eyes on him and stared down the ball thrower thing. He missed spectacularly and nearly fell, but caught himself with the bat. Jon laughed as he told him to try again. He missed the next few and was beginning to get frustrated. He'd been better than this. He shifted his stance and tightened his grip on the bat and told Jon to do another. 

The clang of the ball hitting the bat reverberated up his arm and into his chest. He turned and let out an obnoxious cheer when the ball hit the netting. 

"You've played before," Jon said. His eyes were sparkling as he walked closer. 

"Maybe once or twice," he replied. "You're a good teacher though."

"Color me impressed," Jon said as he stepped out of the cage after the machine shut off. Jon knew that he should kiss him. He'd already done it. He'd done it a lot and he'd thought about doing it again for nearly the entire day leading up to this. 

He reached up and pulled the batting helmet off of him, pushing his hand through his hair to smooth it down. Damian caught his wrist and leaned in without any hesitation. Jon smiled into the kiss and was reduced to a grinning idiot by the time Damian pulled away. He cleared his throat and shamelessly blushed when the owner whistled from the control booth. "You don't have to rush off, do you?" He asked. Damian shook his head and Jon grabbed his hand. "Are you hungry?" Damian smiled and let Jon pull him back out to the street. 

He pointed out a couple of options but Damian just made a face at each one until finally admitting he was a vegetarian. He smiled at that and pulled Damian down the street to a pizza shop with a questioning look and finally got a smile. They had a fun time choosing their toppings. Damian had said they should do small separate pizzas but Jon insisted that if it was a date that it was more romantic to share. He made a face when Damian ordered a pepsi and he asked for a coke. 

"What?" Damian asked. 

"You know that Coke is the superior of the two brown pops," he said like it was a fact. 

Damian snorted. "If Coke was perfect then they wouldn't have made Pepsi to begin with. The only acceptable Coke is Cherry Coke."

"Cherry Coke tastes like medicine," Jon complained. "Cherry Pepsi is way better than Cherry Coke."

"You only think that because you don't actually like Pepsi," Damian told him and thanked the waiter when he brought their drinks. 

Jon just grinned and took a drink of his Coke with every intention of making a very satisfied noise but he gagged and pushed it over to Damian. "I think this pop is yours." He coughed from the surprise and Damian grinned and pushed the other cup over to him. 

"I like that you call it pop," Damian told him when his Coke washed the horrible taste of Pepsi away. "It's like you came out of the fifties."

Jon laughed and shook his head. "Everyone calls it pop is Kansas." He shrugged. 

"You're from Kansas?" 

He shook his head. "My Pa is though. My grandparents own a farm in Smallville. They don't really produce much anymore now that they're retired. But we go up every summer and help them tame the land so It's more manageable for my grandpa to take care of. But I'm born and bred Metropolis." He grinned proudly and Damian smiled back at him. "Must be pretty different from Gotham."

He frowned at him. "How did you…?"

"I googled you," Jon admitted flushing slightly. "My parents are reporters so… research is kind of in my blood," he said lamely. "And…" He hesitated. "There was, like, a  _ lot _ about your family."

Damian sighed and swirled his straw around in his cup. "You saw that, huh?"

Jon nodded. "98 is a big number. It must have been really hard not to get a match for 8 months." Damian blinked in surprise. "Your birthday is on your profile." He shrugged. "I figure since I'm the only one…"

He frowned at him, looking between Jon's eyes like he couldn't figure out which one he liked more. "The weird thing is… I think my parents cared more than I did?" Damian offered and Jon tilted his head in a silent question. "I mean. I cared," he corrected himself. "No one wants to be the only person in history not to have  _ any  _ matches. But I could hear my dads just whispering about it all of the time. And they kept looking at me like they thought I would panic or start crying or…" he shrugged. "I don't know." 

"They must be relieved you finally got a match."

Damian's nose crinkled slightly and looked up at Jon guiltily. "I, uh, actually haven't told them," he admitted. "You know, I just thought it would be easier if-"

"I get it," Jon told him, holding his hands up. "I haven't told mine either." He rubbed the back of his neck. "They actually… don't know I'm gay."

Damian blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"Don't get me wrong, my parents are great. And I know that they won't actually care. But now that I've waited so long to tell them I just… haven't figured out how. And I don't want this to change anything. Even if it's nothing big, it'll still be different. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. Or at least I told myself just to wait until I got a good match but-" He smiled and reached across the table to grab his hand. "-I guess I have to come up with a new excuse."

Damian smiled despite himself and Jon wanted to trace each of his perfect white teeth with his tongue. When he really smiled, he smiled with his whole face, putting on this entire production of his eyes lighting up and his tongue peaking out from their white picket fence. It was so distracting. "You know that 27% isn't exactly considered a 'good' match."

Jon shook his head. "Sure it is. Put 2 and 7 together and you almost have a perfect 10." 

Damian groaned out a laugh and shook his head. "Jon…"

"I know that was lame," he admitted, grip tightening on his hand. "But really. Is 27 that bad? I mean, maybe I'm crazy but you're my first match. My only match and I feel like that means something." He smiled at him and watched as Damian bit his lip. "I mean, what if the 27% is all the stuff that really matters and the other 73% is useless unimportant things that don't even count anyway?"

Damian watched him for a minute before he finally gave in to the conversation. "Well what are important things for you?"

Jon thought about that for a moment. "I love the Star Wars prequels," he said finally and Damian let out a surprised laugh. "I do." He sighed like it was the worst secret that he had. "I watch them when I get sick or when I'm depressed. All of the time. Whoever I end up with will have to deal with that for the rest of their life."

Damian bit back his smile and forced a stoic face. "I think I can deal with that." 

Jon smiled. "Your turn."

He narrowed his eyes while he thought about it and finally said, "I want a cow." 

Jon snorted. "What?" 

"I love cows," Damian said simply. "They are the cutest thing on the earth and I love them. I want a pet cow."

"I have a cow," Jon told him with a grin as he watched his face light up with pure delight. 

"What?" 

"She's in Kansas with my grandparents. But she's mine. Her name is Bess and she was probably my best friend until I was ten." 

"Do you have pictures?" Damian demanded. Jon nodded and got up, sliding into his side of the booth so they could flip through the photos he had of the farm and Bess until their pizza came. 

They stood at the corner by the bus stop and kissed. Damian had only kissed one person before Jon, but he didn't like to count Harper. It felt like admitting to kissing his sister. Which he really didn't want to be thinking about while Jon's tongue ran over the back of his teeth. Jon had missed the first bus, they hadn't been paying attention. 

"Your bus is here," he sighed when he heard the engine rumbling. Jon pulled away like he wanted anything but to stop. He darted in and kissed him again. He missed the taste of the pop on his tongue, but that had faded a long time ago. 

"Bye, Damian Wayne," Jon said with a smile and a jerky wave. 

"Goodnight, Jonathan Kent." 

He watched Jon walk down the bus and sit down against the window. For a moment he felt like he was watching him leave for the war. Then his phone chimed and he opened the notification. 

_**Message From** : Jonathan Kent account #876990 _

_ August 25th 2045 _

I miss you already. 

He looked up and felt a goofy smile on his face as he waved at Jon as the bus pulled away. Damian didn't remember much of the walk back to the dorm. He kept thinking about Jon's laugh as they talked about movies. How serious he got when he talked about baseball. About the feel of his lips. He hoarded it all, shoved it deep into his chest, and grabbed a sketchbook. 

_**Message From** : Damian Wayne account #872413 _

_ August 25th 2045 _

[Attachment] 

Your best friend and my best friend. 

He thought Jon would like the sketch of Goliath, his stuffed dragon, flopped on Bess' head. He fell asleep dreaming of the fields and Jon's eyes. 

Message From: Jonathan Kent account #876990

August 26th 2045

They would have the best adventures! 

My dad took me to the batting cages this morning. Harry kept grinning at me. =_= Today is your last day of freedom before classes. What are you going to do?

_**Message From:** Damian Wayne account #872413 _

_ August 26th 2045 _

I already have an assignment in one of my classes. I'm working on that and maybe I'll brave the bookstore. 

Hopefully talk to you some more. 

His phone chimed as soon as he sent the message and he thought it was Jon already, but it was the family group chat. 

**CW** : Settle this. Who would win in a battle amongst the Fellowship?

**DW** : Like a brawl or a championship? 

**BW** : Battle Royale

**TW** : How would that change your answer?

**DW** : It does. 

**CW:** Answer please. They've been arguing about it all weekend. 🙄

**BW** : Because your father is wrong. 

**TW** : Because your father is wrong!! 

Damian chuckled and took a screenshot. He got an alert from Jon and opened it. 

_**From:** Jonathan Kent account #876990 _

_ August 26th 2045 _

I've got nothing but family time planned. You have an assignment and class hasn't even started? College sucks. What are you doing on Thursday night? 

_**Message From:** Damian Wayne account #872413 _

_ August 26th 2045 _

[Attachment] 

I don't have any plans. Did you want to do something? 

Also… you know how I said sometimes my dads are weird. This is what I was talking about. 

**CW** : Damian! 

He spent the rest of the morning arguing with his family about Gimli's strength. Then when Jon responded with his own opinions they went back and forth too. Somewhere through the day they'd agreed to watch a movie at Damian's. Jon had just told him to surprise him. 

Damian fell asleep smiling at Jon's last message. A simple goodnight followed by a 'can't wait until Thursday.'

Getting himself up for class was harder than he expected. He hit snooze until his phone turned his alarm off. Then stared at the clock and wondered if he could skip his first class on his first day. The message waiting in his inbox was enough to brighten his outlook on the day. 

_**Message From:** Jonathan Kent account #876990 _

_ August 27th 2045 _

Good morning! Have a good first day! 

My dad agrees with me. Aragon would win.

He shot back a note to Jon and headed off. His classes were interesting. He'd spent weeks with his dads trying to make a schedule that he'd like. Tim told him to take things that interested him. Bruce said that getting the core classes out of the way first was the best way. So his classes were a mix of the two. He had a linguistics class first thing in the morning then in the afternoon his math class. He wandered around the campus between classes and stopped by the bookstore to get the textbooks he hadn't gotten the day before because he'd been too busy messaging Jon. 

He lugged them back to his room before getting lunch and heading to find his class. 

_**Message From:** Damian Wayne account #872413 _

_ August 27th 2045 _

It feels strange to be done at 2. I have all this time and I don't have anything to do.

  
  


It took a few hours for Jon to respond. When he did they just talked about different things Jon thought Damian could do, then Damian got him to talk about all the activities he was involved in. Thursdays were the only day that Jon didn't have an activity after school. They talked until Jon told him he had to get ready for bed. 

The days continued like that. When Thursday finally came, Damian was done with class only a half hour before Jon. He headed back up to his room and searched for a movie to watch. He scrolled through a few that they had on the family drive. 

Jon messaged him that he'd be there in five minutes. Damian met him down at the entrance to the building. Jon's eyes lit up when he saw him. 

"I see you're back in black," Jon said with a laugh. 

"Appropriate clothing for the sleuthing we're about to do," he replied. Jon needled him for details on the movie, but he held off until they were settled side by side on the bed and Damian's laptop sat between them. 

"So, this is my dad's favorite series. He went as Blanc a couple halloweens ago. No one got the reference and he spent the whole night sulking. Or at least that's how my dad told it." 

"You call both of your dads dad?" Jon asked. 

"Yeah. I called my dad, father once but it felt really weird. My sister still calls them dad and daddy, but it felt childish?" he offered. He knew it had hurt Tim when he'd stopped calling him daddy. "They swear they know who I'm calling for though. It's all about tone." He grinned and Jon hummed and leaned against his shoulder. 

"You can't tell anyone. But I think the series is my favorite too." 

Jon giggled as he set the laptop on the floor after they finished the movie. He could barely make out, "A donut. Inside another donut," through the laughter. 

"Did you like it?" 

"It was great. There are 4 more?" 

"Yeah. They are all really different. But Blanc is in each one." 

"I love his accent." Jon recited a few lines in the obnoxious southern drawl and Damian groaned. "What?" Jon asked without dropping the accent. "Do you have a problem with the way that I talk?" 

Jon leaned closer and Damian kissed him just to get him to stop with his horrible attempt at Blanc's accent. 

\---

Dating Damian was easy. And that was saying something seeing that Jon had only ever dated his friend Kathy before and they had never gotten past their first kiss. He'd always thought that dating would be hard. Gar had dated before Match, said he wanted to get experience so when he met his soul mate he'd be prepared to dazzle her. He'd been with Gar through heartache after heartache and never wanted that for himself. But when he was with Damian, he didn't think he would ever have to feel that way. They were their only match. It was Cosmic. 

Gar agreed a hundred percent. He was on board the Damian train and the way that he told it, he was the conductor. Bart on the other hand, had reservations. "I'm just  _ saying _ ," he said for the hundredth time. "Sooner or later one of you is going to get a higher match. And if you get too invested it's going to suck, like,  _ so hard _ ."

"So you think I should just stop talking to him?" Jon asked, smirking at Gar who was sitting at his desk painting a figure for their new campaign. 

"Have you even told your parents who you matched with yet?" Jon didn't answer and Bart grimaced at him. "If you are going to go all out with this guy, at least tell your parents so they can… I don't know. Comfort you if shit gets bad?"

"Language dude," Gar told him pointing at Jon and he rolled his eyes at him. 

"I'm going to tell them," Jon muttered into his notebook. "Eventually."

And he tried. For two weeks every time he went out to meet Damian he tried to tell his parents where he was going… but they were so trusting. They didn't ask. They just smiled and reminded Jon to be back by curfew. And he felt guilty. Completely guilty without them having to lay it on at all. He felt especially guilty the morning of their sixth date when his Dad took him to the batting cage. 

"Going out again tonight?" He asked when they were going over their days on the way back home. He bumped his hip. "I feel like I haven't seen you in  _ aaaaages, _ " he complained and slumped against him making Jon laugh and shove him off. "But seriously." He chuckled. "Where do you keep running off too?"

Jon opened his mouth with a lie on his tongue planning on telling his dad he was running a new campaign with Bart and Gar. He surprised himself by saying. "I… uh… I have been meeting up with my match." He could feel his dad looking at him and just barely managed to glance over to catch him grinning. "Stop with that face…" he groaned. 

Clark chuckled and threw his arm over Jon's shoulders. "What?" He demanded. "A father can't be a little giddy that his only son is out in the world finding love?" He fanned his hand out in front of them and Jon groaned again. "When are you gonna let your Ma and me meet her?" 

And there is was. The assumption. The assumption that because his parents were traditional and perfect that he would be that way too. And he knew that it was stupid. Knew that if he just corrected his father that it would change-- but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He swallowed. "Um, yeah… I don't know. Maybe soon?" He offered and that earned him an even bigger smile that made him feel like he was on top of the world even though he knew he was actually spiralling toward the ground. 

-

"You seem distracted," Damian told him when the box office handed them their tickets and they stepped into the theater, Damian's fingers lacing easily into his. He squeezed his hand. "Where's your head at?" 

"Um, nowhere," he said but once he got a good look at Damian he couldn't lie. He sighed and stepped into line behind a man about his height with dark hair who turned his head at his words. "Actually it's with me--Pa?" He blinked when his father turned around to blink at him. 

Jon felt his heart jump into his chest as his father took them in. First Jon who he smiled at in pleasant surprise and then Damian who he blinked at like he'd seen a ghost. He looked down at their hands and then back up at Jon, but his smile had only gotten bigger. 

"Hey Kiddo," he said, pulling him in for a hug before he turned to Damian who looked paler than Jon had ever seen him. "I'm Clark, Jon's father. You must be his match?"

Damian nodded. He felt his heart hammer in his chest. 

"Uh, yeah," Jon said. He smiled and a little of the tension eased out of him. "Pa, this is Damian. Damian, my Pa."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Kent," Damian said in a rush as he shook his hand.

"Oh you can call me Clark." Damian nodded, but he knew he would do no such thing. "What movie are you boys watching?"

"The Blade of Memory," Jon said. 

"Me too," Clark said with a laugh. Damian's stomach knotted. Clark stepped up to the register and ordered. Jon shot him an apologetic look. He just rubbed the back of his hand. "Here, boys. I'll get you too." 

"I can-" Damian said at the same time Jon started. 

"It's okay-" 

"Nonsense. Tell the guy what you want." 

Jon stepped up and ordered. He looked at Damian. "Do you want gummies or your gross wax sticks today?"

"You stole half of my  _ wax sticks _ last time," he said and felt Clark grinning at them. "Gummy bears," he told the worker. "Are we still eating after?" he asked quietly. 

"Maybe?" Jon replied. 

He took his candy and Jon grabbed their icee. He sucked on the top as it expanded and Damian looked away. He had made Jon snort and nearly spit the icee out last week when he'd made a comment about watching Jon suck on things. 

They hovered awkwardly as Clark paid. He wanted to go find their seats, but he didn't want to be rude. He should have dragged Jon off because as soon as Clark joined them Jon shoved the icee into Damian's hand and said, "I'm going to run to the restroom." Damian stared after him and then looked over to Clark. 

"So how long have you two been seeing each other?" 

Damian swallowed. "A month and a half." 

Clark looked a little surprised and hurt, though he was hiding it well. "And what do  _ your  _ parents think about you two matching?" 

Damian choked on the icee. Clark pat his back as he coughed. "They-- they don't know. Can't really picture them buying Jon concessions when they find out," he said flatly.

"No?" 

Damian shook his head. "No offense sir, but Kent is kind of a curse word in our house. Though it's not as bad as  _ Lane,"  _ he whispered. 

Clark surprised him by laughing. "I could see why. But that's an issue for us parents, not something you boys should worry about." Damian looked at Clark. He looked like he believed that, like this feud really only affected the adults. Maybe for him it did, Jon didn't seem to know anything about it. But Damian had grown up hearing everything that was written about his family. Had people judge him by his name alone. He frowned. "You really do look just like B. It's crazy." 

"Come on, Dami. We're going to miss the trailers." Jon grabbed his arm and waved back at his dad. "We'll see you after the movie, Pa."

"Sorry," Jon said. "What'd he say?" 

"He asked how long we'd been dating," he said and handed the icee back to Jon. 

They headed up to the second to top row. He didn't even have to think about their seats since they sat in the same seats every time they came. 

When Damian sat down, he saw Clark sitting at the bottom a few rows from the front. 

"Are you okay?" Damian asked while the pre-show played. 

"I think so. He didn't look mad."

"Did you think he would be?" 

"No. Not really." Jon leaned his head on his shoulder and sucked on the icee in the cup holder. Damian offered him a gummy bear. Jon took it and sighed. "I wanted to be the one to tell him." Damian turned enough to kiss his head. As the lights dimmed and the opening ad played Jon slid his fingers through his. "I guess you can come to dinner now right?" Damian was saved from having to respond by a loud explosion opening the trailer. 

-

"You can't rate it low just because you want to pick the next one," Damian complained as they walked down the stairs. "You cried."

"Out of boredom," Jon said, though he was grinning. Damian pinched him and he yelped. "Fine. Fine. I'll give it an 8." Damian grinned. "Out of 100," Jon added in a rush and jumped the last two stairs. He nearly knocked into his dad. 

"Whoa there." 

"What did you think, Pa?" 

"About the movie?" 

"An honest and  _ fair _ rating. 1-10," Damian said with a look to Jon. 

"A seven." 

"That means I pick next," Damian said with a smirk. Jon rolled his eyes and took his hand. Clark looked confused, but Jon explained.

"We rate the movie. If it's higher than a 15 that person gets to choose again. If it's lower we switch. I don't think it's fair since you love, like,  _ every _ movie. He even liked that space western," he added turning to his dad. 

"It's a western. In space. It's like the perfect movie," Damian insisted. Jon shook his head in disagreement. "Oh. And my dads finally watched it. They agree with me."

"Of course they would," Jon replied. "You had to inherit your terrible taste in movies from somewhere."

"You're the one that liked the Frogger movie." 

"Shut up," Jon said and pushed him. "It was funny." Damian laughed and caught himself on the rail. Jon turned back. "You okay, Pa?" 

"Hm?" Clark looked distracted. He looked between them for a moment and a half-hearted smile lifted his face. "I'll let you boys get back to your date. And Jon. Midnight, not 12:05, alright?" Jon looked guilty and nodded. Damian watched Clark walk down the street before Jon tugged him along asking what they should eat. 

-

_**Message From:** Jonathan Kent account #876990 _

_ October 18th 2045 _

Here is your formal invitation to have dinner at my house on Friday. I told my dad you're veggies. Is 8 okay? My mom works pretty late.

  
  


Damian looked at the message for a while. He closed out of the app and opened his contacts. 

" _ Please tell me you aren't in jail. This has been the longest week of my life, _ " Selina said, sounding exhausted. 

"I'm not in jail. I don't think they let you keep your cell phones in jail?"

" _ That is true. What do you need kiddo? _ " 

"Advice?" 

" _ Ooh. Let me put my Auntie hat on _ ." There was a pause. " _ Okay. Shoot _ ." 

"Jon wants me to have dinner at his house."

_ "No." _ Selina's voice was sharp. 

"He wants to introduce me to his parents. Both of them. It's important right? I can't say no."

" _ Yes, you can. It's easy. You just said it actually. No _ ." 

"I met Clark last week. He was nice."

" _ You - how did you meet Clark? And why didn't you tell me?" _

"Because I didn't want you to freak out. We ran into him at the movies. He bought our food." Selina was quiet. "Maybe they aren't as bad-" 

" _ She is _ ," Selina said. " _ If Lane is going to be there, I don't want you there. I'll tell Bruce." _

"What? No. You promised." 

" _ Your dads would never forgive me." _

"What am I supposed to tell Jon?" 

" _ Maybe it's time to tell him the truth. Someone should." _

Gar started pounding on his door whining about being famished. "I have to go." He hung up before she could reply. He knew it was petty, but he didn't want to hear anything else. 

_**Message From:** Damian Wayne account #872413 _

_ October 18th 2045 _

I have plans. 

Sorry.

  
  


He wasn't surprised when Jon was knocking on his door Saturday morning. He looked pissed. Damian let him in and sat down on his bed. "You had plans? What plans? Because Gar said you didn't leave your room." 

"Spying on me?" 

"Maybe I did. But you blew me off and then didn't answer any of my messages. What was I supposed to do?" 

Damian didn't answer. He picked at the hole in the knee of his pants. Jon sat down on the bed across from him. He'd moved it again. 

"What's so terrible about dinner with my parents? You met my dad."

He looked at Jon. He was practically pleading with him to tell him. He closed his eyes. 

"Did you know our dads were matches?"

"What?"

"Before he matched with your mom. Before my dads met." 

Jon looked speechless. 

"And your mom hates my family because of it."

"But thats… " Jon paused trying to process that. "But that's so… my parents have been married for like, twenty six years. Why would my mom care about your dad and my dad…" He stopped at the weird flip in his stomach before he could actually say it. His dad had been with a guy. And not just any guy, but Damian's father. What were the odds that that happened? It was weird, right? Like even for them. 

"It's true," Damian told him with a shrug. He looked so miserable. "Apparently she wrote this article right after my dads matched claiming the entire thing was a fake. My dad got attacked cause he told some guy that he couldn't fake a match for him and it wasn't real and…" He stopped and looked up at Jon. 

"My mom wouldn't do that," Jon told him, shaking his head, a little burn in his chest. "She's a good person. An award winning reporter. She wouldn't just, like, lie because she was mad about something."

"Well she did," Damian insisted. His back straight and tense. "And she has and she does. And my family had been living with the consequences of that for years." 

"I don't believe you," Jon told him quietly, eyes prickling and he swallowed hard.

"It's a matter of public record, Jon." Damian snapped at him like he was a belligerent child. "You can look up the articles and read them yourself." 

He stood up quickly, eyes still stinging. "I have to go." 

"Jon, wait." He moved to the door but Damian got up with him and pinned him there. "I'm not saying this to hurt you," he told him but he still sounded angry. "But I can't meet your parents. Your Dad knew at the theater just by one look at me. If your mom found out…" he trailed off and his eyes went soft. "Is it so wrong that I don't want to ruin what we have?" 

Jon blinked at him and even though he wanted to reject it, Jon knew Damian was telling the truth. His version of it at least. And he knew from years of listening to his parents that everyone's truth was rooted in something. "So what does this mean?" He asked in frustration. "We keep dating in secret, never allowed to meet each other's families? What kind of life is that?"

Damian looked him over, his green gaze like a tractorbeam pulling him in. "One where I have you," he offered like he knew that it was nothing. A consolation prize for someone who lost. But it didn't feel like that to Jon. 

He reached out and pulled on the sides of Damian's shirt until he folded easily into him, arms wrapping around Jon's neck as Jon pointed his chin up to meet his mouth. They stood like that for a while, wrapped in each other, communicating without words just how much they wanted this to work. But Jon couldn't help it. Nerves tumbled in his stomach and he needed to be reassured. "This can work right?" He asked breathily when they finally pulled back to breathe. "We can figure this out… right?"

Damian didn't answer him. He just pulled Jon forward and away from the door. He sat on his bed and pulled Jon down with him as he scooted back. Even though Jon was reluctant to give up the conversation and wanted an answer, he complied. He crawled over him, letting the high that he got when Damian was kissing him light him up inside. Making him dizzy and warm and hyper sensitive to the fingers that traced down his back until they reached the edge of his hoodie and pulled up. Damian stopped to appreciate the henley that Jon had on underneath it and Jon felt his face turn red before he grabbed the bottom of it and pulled it over his head too, tossing it aside with his hoodie and tried to ignore the embarrassment that coursed through him as Damian ran his hands up his stomach. 

Jon knew that he was ripped. He'd been told by Bart and Gar a thousand times. They always said it enviously, like they wanted to hit him for it and Jon had never understood why until he saw the way Damian looked at him. Sometimes it was like he was a piece of art that he was dying to examine. And other times like he wanted to take a bite of him. Damian sat up when Jon pulled him softly, never taking his eyes off Jon as he pulled off his shirt and tossed it away with the others. Damian was fit. His shoulders were broader than Jon's and his hands were stronger. But he was softer in the middle, just soft enough that Jon wanted to burrow into him and never come out. 

He traced his body with his finger tips, only grabbing at him when Damian pulled him back in. Jon tilted Damian's head with the smallest urge of his thumb and met his tongue with his own as he fell forward with him as Damian fell back onto the bed. Damian grabbed at his hips and Jon rolled against him, swallowing the moan that leaked out of Damian's mouth like a plea. 

Jon reached for the button of Damian's jeans as he rolled his hips again. "Is this okay?" He asked into his mouth. Damian nodded and pulled him back down. 

The button gave way easily and his zipper practically slid itself down as Jon reached into his pants palming the thin fabric of his underwear. He knew how to do this. Theoretically. He had seen porn, he'd taken the sex education course his parents signed him up for, he'd gone to school assembly, he… you know, masterbated. This was basically the same thing. Only it felt ten times better. Damian felt hot on his hand, hard as a rock as he twitched into Jon's palm. He licked the curse right out of Damian's mouth as he pressed harder and moved his hand up to the elastic of his underwear when the door opened. 

"Hey D, you want to-- oh shit!" Gar jumped and clasped a hand over his eyes as Jon pulled Damian closer to try and hide his open pants. 

"Gar, what the heck?" Jon hissed at him as Damian bit his lip, face pressed into Jon's chest. 

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He groaned trying to find where he had left the door. "I didn't hear any noise and I thought you left." He found the door knob and yanked it open. "Sorry!" He shouted again and slammed the door. 

Damian pulled his face out of Jon's chest and rested his chin on it, looking up at him. Jon smoothed his hair and sighed as the reality they had been avoiding came down on them again. 

"We are going to figure this out," Jon promised him, putting a finger on the crease in Damian's brow, smoothing it out. "You aren't your father and I'm not my mom. They can't keep us from each other."

"It's not going to be that simple," Damian told him softly. 

"I know that." Jon wrapped his arms back around him and kissed his forehead. "But I love you. So I don't care."

Damian didn't say it back, but once he blinked away his surprise, the smile that nearly split his face in two was all Jon needed to grin back. His heart feeling full as Damian gripped his waist and spun him down into the bed so he could attack him with a kiss on any part of skin he could find. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Editing this always takes me forever cause I get distracted reading it instead of looking for errors. So if there are any mistakes that's why.
> 
> Hope you like it! Let us know if you do! 
> 
> -DNA


	3. Chapter 3

He had been surprised that Jon had just about the same amount of experience that he had when it came to sex, which was none. They figured it out together. And they made sure to lock the door too. 

Damian loved Jon's hand on him. The rough slide of his fingers and palm had the most embarrassing noises slipping from his mouth. Jon squirmed his face turning bright red any time Damian talked, which made him want to talk all the more. The first time Jon had taken them both in hand as they rutted against each other, Damian had babbled about how good it all felt and how good Jon always felt. They'd come together and just kind of stared at each other after. That had been better than anything before. Jon pushed him back to the bed and kissed him hard when Damian opened his mouth to ask him what he thought. 

Damian liked the nights they spent locked in his dorm together. They didn't have to worry about anything going on outside the door. It was just them. All that mattered was Jon's nervous laughter as he stared at Damian's dick like it was going to attack him. Damian closed his eyes. He couldn't look at Jon so close without touching him for much longer. He wanted this to last. At least longer than Jon had when Damian had gone down on him. Jon's lips touched his head, a barely there brush of sensation, but it had Damian's blood soaring. A tentative brush of his tongue came next and Damian gripped the sheets. 

They both shrieked when Damian's phone broke the tension of the moment. Damian grabbed it and answered without thinking. 

"Hello?" 

"Hey Kiddo. We haven't talked to you in awhile. Just wanted to check in on you." 

He pulled the covers over his lap not wanting to be naked while his dad was on the other side of the phone. It felt like Bruce would know somehow. Jon shifted back up, blush covering his face and spreading down his neck. 

"I'm fine," he answered. 

"I know. That's all you've been saying in your texts." He could feel Jon's eyes on him and closed his own. 

"That's because it's the truth," he replied. He could feel the sharpness in his voice but could do nothing to stop it. 

"You know that we're here if you ever need to talk. About anything." Damian covered his face. He had been trying to avoid this conversation. "We love you." He nodded. He didn't trust his voice. 

"You know Fluffmaster General?" Bruce asked out of nowhere. "Well she had a vet appointment so Emily brought her to work." He listened to his dad tell the story, and after a few seconds Jon took his hand and pulled it away from his face. He looked over at him through the tears he could feel on his face. Jon kissed his hand. He forced a smile. And laughed when FG got into Luke's trash. Jon smiled and rested his head on his shoulder as his dad continued to update him on all of the office drama he'd missed. 

"Cassandra kicked your dad in the face," Bruce said. 

"How?" he asked, his voice sounding normal again. 

"She was practicing and he walked in as she spun." Damian laughed. "He has a pretty dark bruise. I don't know if you'll see any of it, but there's speculation going on over here. I didn't want you to see it and think-" his voice cut off like he didn't even want to say the words. 

Damian knew what they were saying though. It came around every time any of them got hurt. The first time Damian had seen it was when he was eight and he'd broken his wrist while trying to race Harper down the fire escape of their building. People had come to their home, talked to them, talked to their friends, his teachers. He hadn't understood until he was older and their parents sat them down and explained. 

A few months after he'd been born a photographer had gotten pretty close and the flash had scared him. Damian had started crying. His dad had lost it on the photographer- broke his camera and the guy's nose. That one incident had been all it had taken for the media to sell the violence story. It didn't matter to them. 

"I know you wouldn't," he said quietly. "Is Cass apologizing non-stop?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood. 

"Yes, so if you could work your magic that would be appreciated."

"I love you," Damian said. 

There was a pause and when dad spoke his voice was rough. "I love you too. I'll let you go. Call us okay? We miss you." 

"I miss you too," he parroted. They said their goodbyes and Damian set the phone down on his chest. 

"I talk to my dad a lot," Jon said. Damian looked over to him. "About us. And our match. I didn't really think about you not having anyone." 

"I have you," Damian said after a moment. Jon made a face. "I'm used to not having friends," which brought another look from Jon. He continued before Jon could say anything about that again. He had some strong opinions about the  _ idiots _ Damian had grown up with. "I just don't know how to talk to my family without telling them this. I am happier than I've ever been, but I cannot tell them why." 

"Do you think they'd be that upset?" Jon asked. 

Damian turned and looked at Jon. "I don't know."

Jon closed the distance and kissed him softly. He relaxed into it and let go of some of the hurt. 

"You could come to the batting cages with me and my dad tomorrow," Jon offered as he put his shoes on. Damian looked up. "If you wanted to." Jon smiled and gave him a kiss goodnight. 

\---

Jon was both happy and surprised when Damian was waiting for them at the batting cages the next morning. It was freezing out, and he hadn't dressed for the weather in just jeans, his green hat and a black hoodie. Jon was in his Letterman. He opened it up and invited him into it as his dad went to the control booth to get everything kicked on. "Doesn't it get cold in Gotham?" He laughed as Damian pressed his nose into his neck and wrapped his arms tighter around Jon's waist. 

His dad smiled when he made his way back to them and tilted his head to the side. "You ready champ?" He asked Jon and he nodded, kissing the top of Damian's hat. He slid out of his jacket and wrapped it around Damian before he took the bat from his dad and stepped into the cage. 

His dad gave him a few directions as the first couple hits flew by but quickly turned his conversation over to Damian. The wind was blowing slightly and the pitcher was loud, but with Damian and his father standing up against the cage he could hear almost everything they said. 

"Kent looks good on you," his father offered. 

He heard Damian laugh at that and was glad that his back was to them when he smiled. "It feels good too," he said easily. "I like what it comes with."

"Jon says things are going pretty strong with you. I'm pretty sure he said something about it being 'cosmic'." There was another chuckle. "The thing about cosmic connections is that they can sometimes defy the laws of nature. It's like some kind of polarity that pulls you together regardless of the obstacles between you. It's not always fair." 

Jon missed a ball and his dad called out to him as he lined up for the next one. He made sure to hit it and waited for them to start again. 

"Did Jon tell you he's my first match?" His dad didn't say anything but Jon assumed he shook his head. "I waited eight months with no matches. I had to take all these extra tests and my dad tried to get me to see a therapist and it just… sucked. But we got through it. My dads are… they are the best dads I could ask for. They love me. They accept me. But this." He stopped again and Jon had to focus harder not to let the ball pass him. "I want them to meet Jon. I want them to see that I'm happy. But what if they say something horrible? What if they make me choose between them? I'm not ready to deal with that." 

They were quiet for a little bit. "You know," his dad started. "I don't know Tim. And honestly I haven't known Bruce for a very long time. I can't say I'm thrilled about the situation you boys are going into-- but I see how happy you've made Jon. Happier than I think I've ever seen him. And as a father, I can't tell you what it means to me to see that boy smile the way he does when he talks to me about you." He missed the next ball, but his dad didn't say anything. "I don't know your parents. But I know they love you. And I don't know a single father that wouldn't pay to see their son happy." 

They didn't talk anymore that Jon could hear anyway. And after a good ten minutes more the balls stopped and Jon turned back to the cage where they were still standing, his arms burning. He walked over and leaned against the cage against Damian who smiled at him, eyes looking suspiciously misty. "My arms feel like spaghetti."

His dad chuckled. "You can't quit till we get to jello."

Jon groaned. "Paaaa--"

"C'mon champ," he told him, stepping into the cage to reset the machine. 

Jon made eyes at Damian. "Save me," he whispered and Damian grinned at him. 

"The sooner you turn to jello, the sooner we get coffee," he offered. Jon breathed out heavily through his nose and made a pouty face through the chain link that Damian couldn't help but humor. 

Jon turned himself to jello and his father agreed with Damian that they needed coffee. They went to a new place further into the city and since it was a Saturday. Coffee turned into waffles. And waffles turned into hot cocoa from Clark's favorite vendor closer to downtown when Damian had admitted he hadn't been on a tour of the city yet. Jon smiled as he watched Damian and his dad talking and laughing together and the way that he listened so intently as he pointed out landmarks and walked him through boring histories. Damian asked questions and his dad smiled so hard that Jon was sure that his nose would rip in half. And Damian actually laughed at all of his Dad's lame jokes.

Jon slipped his hand into Damian's as his dad went on about the history of the globe statue on the top of the Daily Planet and how many times it had almost fallen on their way to his favorite lunch spot. They ate and Clark told Damian a bunch of embarrassing stories about the idiotic things Jon did when he was younger. By the time they ended up back at MU, he didn't want to say goodbye. But Damian had a project to work on and Jon had promised his mom they could catch up on a medical drama they watched together that they were three weeks behind on. 

His dad didn't say much as they walked back to their apartment building and Jon watched him smiling to himself. And not for the first time did it strike him just how lucky he was that this was his dad. He sighed and wrapped his arm around his middle, dropping his head on his shoulder. Clark startled but after a second he wrapped his arms around his shoulder. "Hey, Pa?" He asked. He hummed and pressed the button for the elevator. "I love you."

He felt his dad squeeze at his arm and when he replied his voice was a little thicker. "Love you too kiddo." 

-

"How can you hate your birthday?" Jon asked. 

"It's always around Thanksgiving," Damian sighed from his desk. Jon was laying on his bed tossing a baseball up over and over. He caught himself sketching to the beat of the leather on his palm. 

"But it's your birthday."

"One year it was Black Friday. I got a TV and a Playstation." 

"Wait. Isn't your family, like, crazy rich? Why do they do Black Friday?" 

"It's tradition. Aunt Steph and my dad, the short one, always go." Jon smiled at the clarification. Damian had confused him a week back complaining about his dad for Jon to think he was talking about the other one the entire time. 

"What about this year?"

"It's on Saturday, so I think I might actually get a party. My dads keep checking that I'm coming back to Gotham." Damian chewed on his lip. "Actually, I wanted to ask-" He turned so he wasn't talking to his still life. "-if you'd maybe want to go with me?" 

"Really?" Jon asked. The ball dropped down dangerously close to his face as he sat up. 

"I want them to meet you. And they can't be too angry with me on my birthday right?" Damian knew the panic he was feeling came through in his voice. Jon smiled and held his hand out. Damian stood and let Jon pull him onto the bed. "So you'll come?" 

"I have to ask my dad, but yes." Damian kissed him, but when his hand moved to the edge of Jon's shirt his wrist was caught. 

"Nope. You have to finish that," Jon said with a smile. "You made me promise." 

"I'm letting you out of your promise," he said and nosed at Jon's neck, earning a laugh. 

"Noooo," Jon whined and pushed at him. "Finish then we can go eat. You said you only had another ten minutes."

He sighed and caught another kiss before pushing himself up and with a pout sitting back in front of his project. After a few minutes the thwak of the ball started up. 

"What should I wear?" Jon asked. 

"Probably not your letterman," he replied flatly. 

"Why not? Do they hate baseball?" 

When he glanced back at Jon, he was grinning. "Actually my tall dad loves it."

"Then he'll love me," Jon said. 

Damian hummed. He was actually the most worried about his reaction. Tim was calmer when it came to Lane's articles. With Bruce, it was always so personal. Every word on the page was a physical blow. He hoped more than anything though that they'd be happy. He'd gotten a match. He was happy with his match. 

"Maybe I should introduce myself like this," Jon said in his awful Blanc accent. "He would have to like me then, right?" 

Damian looked over to Jon. God, he loved him. 

They had to be happy for him. 

Had to. 

-

It had taken a lot of convincing to get Clark to agree to let Jon go to Gotham. And even then he wouldn't let him go on his own. Damian had been nervous when they dropped him off at the train station. Jon had kissed him and told him that he'd text him the whole drive. Then reminded him to eat all of the fixins. Thanksgiving was hectic. They had had two for as long as he could remember, lunch out at the manor with his grandparents and dinner at the Todds'. Even he was full by the end of the night, and he didn't eat half of the food that the others did. 

Tim nudged him while they waited for the stores to open. He looked over and closed out of his match inbox. Jon was complaining about the documentary on beavers his dad was watching. 

"You look happy." Damian smiled and nodded. 

"I am." 

"It's a good look." 

His dad shivered and huddled closer to him. He glanced up at Stephanie and Harper who were bickering above them. It was just the four of them. Jason and Bruce had stayed at home and lured Cass and Cullen to stay with them. This would be the time to do it. The time to confess before surprising them all. He opened his mouth- 

"I can't believe you're going to be nineteen. I still remember driving home from the hospital with you like it was yesterday." Damian could hear the emotion in his voice. It was confirmed by the sniff that drew Stephanie's attention. 

"I told B that you'd had enough wine," Stephanie said and crouched down to look at Tim in the eye. "I need you to put on your war face. We are about to do battle." Damian listened to the same speech that Stephanie gave them every year before the doors opened. He was pretty sure that it was from a movie. Harper pretended to pound her shield, Damian laughed, and when the doors opened he laughed at the chaos that followed. 

-

Clark answered the door. Damian smiled. He was sure that it looked more like a grimace. It didn't feel like a smile to him. Clark chuckled and pulled him in. 

"Jon's in the bathroom. He's been in there for the last hour.  _ My hair's not perfect dad,"  _ he said, mimicking Jon. 

Damian laughed. It was too loud and too abrupt. He stopped laughing just as abruptly. He didn't think he'd ever felt so nervous. There hadn't ever been a time when he'd needed to be nervous. He hadn't ever cared this much about something. 

"Sit down. Breathe." 

He sat down on the chair in the corner of the room and took a deep breath. "Another," Clark said. He kept demanding another breath and Damian kept breathing until he didn't feel like his heart was going to pop out of his chest Alien style. 

"Is this better?" Jon asked as he walked out. His hair was flattened to his head. Clark forced a smile and let out a squeak. Damian snorted. 

"Wash your hair," he said. "I like your hair how it normally is." 

"It's a mess normally. I can't look like a mess and meet your parents." 

"You won't look like a mess. Right now you look like you stuck your head in a tub of Vaseline." Clark silently agreed. 

"But-" 

"Wash it out," Damian repeated. 

Jon sighed and went back into the bathroom. He heard the shower kick on a few seconds later. Damian leaned back and then looked at the TV. There was another nature documentary on the screen. Damian grinned to himself. 

Jon came back out a few minutes later toweling off his hair. He shook his hair out. "There's my mess," he said. The towel hit him in the face. They spent the rest of the hour talking about nothing and listening to Clark's comments on the documentary. 

"My 'movie' should be ending soon. We should head out," he said. Clark hugged Jon before letting him go. Damian took Jon's hand. They could do this. It would be good. 

-

The elevator ride up was the longest of Damian's life. And he'd once gotten stuck in it. Jon fidgeted and picked at the curled edge of a no smoking sticker. He looked nervous. Damian took his other hand. 

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked. Jon squeezed his hand.

"I am," Jon said quietly. He smiled, and though it was shaky it looked genuine. 

"If you want to leave, just tell me and we can go." 

Jon smiled as he shook his head. It looked steadier. "It's your birthday party. It's going to be great." 

Damian wasn't so sure, but he let himself believe it. His family loved him. They'd be happy for him. This was going to be fine. Just fine. 

He could hear someone whispering through the door as he unlocked it. He took Jon's hand and kissed it before letting it fall back between them and opening the door. 

"Surprise!" 

The shouts quieted and they all looked at Damian who wasn't standing alone in the doorway like they'd expected. He heard something snap.

He pulled Jon in and the door shut behind them. "Hey. Uh. Everybody." He had expected it to just be his family and the Todds, but Grayson was there with his family and his grandparents. "This is Jon, my-" he looked at Jon who looked terrified but was still smiling. "-my match. Surpriiiise?" 

There was more silence. 

"Damn, Damian. Your match is hot." 

"Harper," Jason hissed. 

"Well don't just stand there," Selina said. Her eyes flashed when they met Damian's. She was not happy about this surprise. That seemed to snap everyone out of their heads and the conversation started back up. His grandmother was the first one to them. She hugged Damian and then hugged Jon too. He saw his dad walk out of the room and then Tim follow after. As he turned back Stephanie caught his eyes and she looked sad. They moved around the room talking to people and telling them about how they met. Dick laughed as Jon told him about Damian's batting skills. 

"We have you to blame for any shortcomings," Tim said to Dick and put a hand on Damian's back as he stepped up next to him. He tensed and relaxed so fast in that moment. The group drifted away and it was just the three of them standing next to the window. 

"I'm Tim, Damian's dad, well one of them." He held his hand out to Jon and Damian knew that he knew. He could see it in the way he smiled. It was his business smile. The one he used when he had to work with people he didn't care for. Damian wished that it wasn't aimed at his boyfriend. 

"It's nice to meet you, sir. Damian's told me all about you." 

"I bet," he replied. His eyes flicked to him and Damian swallowed. He felt like he did when he broke his dad's laptop when he was nine. "Damian, your dad would like to talk to you. I'll keep Jon company." Damian hesitated and looked to Jon. "He'll be fine. Go. He's in the office." 

Damian stepped away and looked back. He didn't want to leave Tim, but more than that he wasn't ready to talk to his dad. He took a deep breath and slipped out of the room. He knocked on the door frame. His dad looked up from his desk and that feeling was back. He could see the disappointment and the lecture building in his eyes. 

"You got a match?" 

He closed his eyes at the hurt he saw plainly on his dad's face. There was a little relief there too that Damian was surprised to see. He nodded and stepped into the room. 

"How high?" 

"Twenty seven percent. I know it's not high, but-" 

"Twenty seven?" his dad repeated back to him. Damian nodded. He saw something pass over his face. "And how long have you been dating?" 

"Since school started," he said. The hurt flashed again. "I wanted to tell you, but I thought you'd be upset." 

"Of course I'm upset. You got a match and didn't tell us. You matched with Lois Lane's son and didn't tell us. You've been keeping it a secret for  _ three months _ ." 

"Jon's not his parents," he said. 

"Damian. It's a twenty seven percent match. You'll get higher matches. It'll be better if you just end it now." 

"I don't want a higher match. I just want him. I love him and-" his dad looked like he'd slapped him. 

"No. You don't," he said and stood up. His hands were pressed flat against his desk. "You are a child. You are both children. You think it's love- it's not. He'll get a higher match. He'll leave you. And you need to see that. A twenty seven percent match won't--can't last." 

"It will," he said, his voice loud. "I'm not you and he's not Clark. I love him and Jon loves me. And you can't tell me that it's not real. I'm older than dad was when you got together was that not real either? Or was it the 98 percent that made it real?" He couldn't keep the anger out of his voice, the resentment for a number that he hadn't known he'd been carrying. 

"Damian, I just don't want you to get hurt."

"Too late." He laughed. "I just wanted you to be happy for me. That's all dads want right?" 

He felt the tears coming and stumbled back out the door. He swallowed thickly and took a few deep breaths as he walked back to the living room. His dad was talking to Steph across the room. It looked like Jon had been rescued by Harper and Cass. They were sitting on the couch closest to him. He cleared his throat and pushed himself forward. 

"Jon?" his voice cracked. He swallowed to keep his emotions locked away until there wasn't a room full of people. "We sh-should go." Jon nodded, his eyes wide as he got up and grabbed their jackets. Damian followed him through the room. He kissed his grandma when she asked where he was running off to. He didn't know what to say. He just knew that he couldn't stay here. 

As soon as they were on the elevator he turned into Jon and let out a sob he'd been holding back. Jon's arms wrapped around him and his head touched his. 

"Damian?" he looked over and Tim was standing outside the elevator. The doors closed on his confusion and hurt. 

"I think your sister liked me," Jon said quietly. Damian held on tighter to Jon. He knew now, if he had to pick. It tore him up to think about, but he knew. He'd pick this. 

Damian cried into his shoulder almost the entire train ride back to the hotel. It was disconcerting to Jon that no one around them seemed to care or even notice them much. He pulled Damian off at their stop and got him back up to their room where his dad was waiting. He frowned at them but didn't seem like he was surprised. 

His dad went to grab food and they watched whatever bad movie was on as Damian started to come down, letting Jon wrap him up in the blankets with him. He kissed his hair every few minutes to remind him that he was still there with him and that he loved him. 

Damian fell asleep first and Jon crawled out of the bed when his dad gave him a look and pat the side of his. He changed and watched his dad walk into the bathroom to take a shower. He grabbed Damian's phone out of his hand and plugged it into the spare charger when he noticed all of the calls and unopened text messages. Jon swallowed. There wasn't a lock on Damian's phone so it was easy to get his father's number and slip out of the hotel room and into the hallway. 

"Tim Wayne."

Jon swallowed but set his shoulders before he could lose his nerve. "I, uh yes. Hello Mr. Wayne?" He smacked his palm into his forehead and pushed pasr the question that had already been answered. "This is Jonathan Kent. Damian's boyfriend…" The line was quiet and he waited for something, but all he heard was a sharp intake of breath. "I hope you don't mind. I got your number from Damian's phone."

"Damian is with you?" He asked, sounding relieved. "He's safe?" 

"Yes sir," Jon assured him. "My Pa came with me to Gotham. I'm still in high school and he… uh, wasn't sure how things would go. He's at the hotel with us."

"Can I talk to Damian?" Tim asked. 

Jon looked back at the door and shuffled his feet. "He's asleep, sir.

Tim sighed. "Okay, just give me the address. I will come get him." Jon bit his lip and didn't say anything. "Jon?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne. But… I can't do that." He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the eruption. 

"I am his father," Tim said furiously. "I just want to know where he is."

"I understand, sir. And I'm sorry I didn't mean to frustrate or hurt you. That's why I called. I just wanted you to know that Damian is safe. I know my parents would be scared and…" and what? He let his eyes roll up to the ceiling wondering if he could make himself sound any worse. "I didn't want you to worry. Sir." 

Jon waited, the other end of the line was so quiet that he thought Tim might have hung up until he heard a hard breath. "It's my job to worry about him," Tim said finally. Quiet. More like he was talking to himself that Jon. He was quiet again and Jon opened his mouth to let him go when Tim spoke again. "Thank you for calling me… Jon. Thank you."

He swallowed again. "You're welcome, Mr. Wayne," he said shakily before they hung up and he let himself back into the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reading these two after the weekend I had was something I really needed. Even with the hurt, they are my heart.
> 
> -DNA


	4. Chapter 4

It was early when Jon woke up to the sound of his father's voice in the bathroom. It was quiet, but loud enough to pull Jon's attention to the floor where he could see the shadow of his feet pacing the floor. Jon looked over at the bed that Damian was in. His eyes were shut and still swollen, breathing still heavy and clearly asleep. Jon got out of bed as quietly as he could manage and moved closer to the bathroom until he could hear what he was saying. 

"Yes, I know that," he said to whoever he was talking to. "And saying it louder doesn't help me hear you better." There was a quiet moment and Jon readied himself to run back to the bed, but he started talking again. "We never told Jon about the lawsuit because it happened before he was born. And that's beside the point. He knows now. And still he came all this way to meet you-" 

It was quiet again and when he spoke next it was angry. "You listen to me. My son is a good boy. He's smart and kind and considerate of others. He's better than me. Better than his mother. You would know that if you bothered to talk to him. If you want to point fingers, point them at the system." His father sighed and Jon bit at his lip, his heart thumping in his chest. "It's not perfect, Bruce. But they are happy. You should see them together, they just… fit."

Jon was surprised when he laughed. "After twenty five years? Would you have answered?" More quiet. And then. "Bruce, It's still early. The boys are asleep and I'm tired. Let me call you when we get back to Metropolis. I'm sure-" he sighed again and muttered 'shoot'. Jon just barely heard him walking back to the door when he panicked and climbed in bed behind Damian. 

He closed his eyes and tried to be natural, his arm around Damian who pulled him closer without a second thought. The bathroom door opened quietly and he heard his dad step up behind him, waiting for him to shake him awake and move him back to their bed. But he didn't. He ran a hand softly through Jon's hair and pulled away, walking back to the empty bed and climbing in. He waited a moment to open his eyes and pulled Damian closer to his chest, tucking his head into his shoulders as he tried to hug his love into him. 

-

Damian was quiet on the drive home but he seemed a lot better than he had the night before. He leaned on Jon and Jon reveled in it. He was determined that he would be the strong one in Damian's life and he wasn't going to let another birthday go by as a bad memory or something to brush off. He had let his dad in on his plan that morning, but Damian was surprised when Jon got out with him at his dorm. He smiled and went to the back of the truck and heaved out the huge box in the back with a grin and Damian pursed his lips as his dad drove off. 

"What is that?" He demanded looking at the patched wrapping job Jon had done. He'd run out of paper and had to use news paper on the bottom. 

"This is your birthday present," Jon told him and Damian sighed looking like he was going to refuse it. "No, don't do that," he said bumping his hip, starting to the door. "I know your birthday sucked, but I already got your gift and being a good boyfriend means you have to open it." Damian didn't look exactly happy about it, but Jon could tell that he was curious. 

When they were in his dorm, Jon made Damian sit on his bed and put the box next to him. It was big, only Damian's head and shoulders peaked over the top. Jon bit at his lip as he watched him rip back the paper and pull the box open. He blinked at it and Jon frowned.

"It's a projector," he explained. "I mean, it's like really old and it doesn't work. The guy at the flea market practically begged me to take it-- but I thought it could be fun to try and get it working. He gave me a few old film reels, but none of them are complete. He did have a list of shops he knew that might have some and if you want I thought we could go look through a few." He didn't know why he felt so shy about it all of a sudden. "It could be our _thing_ but, you know, together." 

Damian smiled as he looked away from the projector. 

They spent the rest of the day carefully cleaning every speck of dust from the projector. Jon said he felt like an archeologist when they twirled cue tips with rubbing alcohol into the nooks and crannies. Damian was careful as he removed the bulb from its housing. He was surprised that it wasn't broken. He set it aside and went back to cleaning. It was soothing to focus on making something better. Jon's music played quietly from his phone. The occasional message from his friends was the only thing that broke the steady stream. When they finally got it clean they sat back and looked at it. Paint was missing from spots. It looked like an arm was broken. The red wire connecting the motor to the plug didn't sit in its protective casing, but wasn't split anywhere that he could see. He put the light bulb back in and looked at Jon. 

"Plug it in," he said. 

"It doesn't work," Jon said. 

"It will. We just have to see what needs to be fixed." 

Jon plugged it in and looked at Damian. He flipped the switch and the light bulb turned on. Jon looked amazed. Damian flipped the other switch and nothing happened. He flipped it off and on and frowned at the metal box that held the motor. 

"Motor," Damian said. "And a new cord." 

Jon nodded and flipped off the light. Damian kissed his cheek when he sat back after unplugging it. 

"Thanks." 

"Sure thing. My grandpa always said gifts that make you spend time together are the best gifts." He had to kiss the ridiculous smile off of Jon's face. 

"I actually think that I know someone that could help us with the motor," Damian said when they headed out to dinner. Jon refused to even offer a choice. He said it was Damian's birthday dinner and so he had to pick. "I don't know if he'll be able to come up from Gotham though." 

-

Damian listened to the phone ring. Jon had texted him to just ask already an hour before. 

"Damian?" 

"Hey uncle Jay," he said. His voice sounded the exact opposite of casual. "I needed to ask for a favor." 

"What kind of favor?" Jason replied, sounding suspicious. 

"I have a motor that I can't get running. I was hoping you could come look at it."

Jason was quiet. He bit his lip as he waited for an answer. 

"I'm free Wednesday evening." 

"Really? Thanks!" 

-

Jon showed up at his dorm a little after lunch. Damian looked at the clock then Jon. 

"You have school," Damian said. He knew that he did. Wednesdays were late days too. He had a tutoring session. 

"I skipped. I wanted to be here. I couldn't miss it running for the first time." 

"He might not even be able to get it running today," Damian said. Jon kicked off his shoes and flopped onto the bed. He knew that he would lose any argument so he gave up on trying to get him to go back. And honestly he was a little relieved. He'd been worried about being alone with Jason. 

He shouldn't have been worried about that. Stephanie wrapped him into a hug as soon as the door opened. She squeezed him super tight and let go only far enough to look at him. "That was from Tim." She hugged him again. "And that's from me." 

He smiled and she poked his cheek. She pushed him to the side and Jason raised an eyebrow as he stepped in. 

"Hi. You must be Jon. I don't think we actually got introduced last weekend." 

Jon had sat up when the knock came and now he looked like he wished he'd stood. Especially when Stephanie sat down on the bed next to him. 

"So motor?" Jason asked. Damian nodded and showed him the projector. 

"Where did you find this?" he asked as he touched the broken arm and opened the lamp house. 

"Jon gave it to me for my birthday. We're fixing it together." Jason glanced up at him. He saw a smile before Jason nodded. "So this is definitely not supposed to look like this." Damian listened to Jason, but his eyes were on Stephanie and Jon as they talked. 

"You should talk to Dick," Jason said quietly. Damian looked back to him. Jason was looking at him, but after a moment he looked back down at the motor. "Just a suggestion." 

The motor was dead. Jon groaned as Damian announced its time of death. They joked back and forth about proper burial practices for a motor. Jason broke in and Damian flushed. He had forgotten they were there. 

"Let me look and I can probably find you another one," Jason said and packed up the motor into his toolbox. "I don't know how long it'll take." 

"It's okay. We're not in a hurry," Jon said. His cheeks were pink. 

"I'll make sure I get this back to you so you can make sure it's laid to rest," Jason said with a grin. He pat Damian's back as he passed. 

Stephanie hugged Jon. Then hugged Damian as tightly as she had when she came in. "Text Timbo? And before you say it. No he didn't tell me to ask. He's trying to give you space because he knows you need it. So just a thumbs up would satisfy him." She touched his cheek. "Congratulations. I don't think anyone said it." 

"Thanks," he croaked and swallowed. She hugged him again before letting Jason drag her out. "Bye," he called. 

She waved and smiled. 

Damian sat down next to Jon. 

"That didn't suck," Damian said. Jon laughed. 

"Maybe we shouldn't have dropped the love version of an atomic bomb on them," Jon said with a lopsided grin. 

"Maybe," Damian agreed. 

-

DW: Could I stay in Metropolis during the break? [link] 

TW: Are you sure?

DW: I think so. 

He got an email instead of a text. It was from the school notifying him about what all would be open and the access he'd have to his building. 

DW: Thanks. 

TW: I love you.

Damian stared at the text. He wanted to hit the little phone icon in the corner to hear those words said out loud. But instead he read them again and closed his eyes.

Jon texted him a few hours later and Damian looked down at the message. 

DW: I love you too. 

He switched threads and tried to nail down his plans with Jon and his finals coming up the next week. 

\---

The next few days were easy. With only a week left of school and Damian staying in Metropolis for break, Jon was making plans for Damian to spend time with his friends. He had a whole list of plans that Damian, Bart, and Gar begrudgingly agreed to and was arguing about the best Christmas movies with Bart at lunch on Wednesday when he heard a sound he'd never heard before come from his phone. He pulled his phone out and blinked at the notification on the screen, his heart sinking into the bottom of his stomach. 

_It's a match!_

Jon didn't even remember leaving school. He hopped a train before he pulled the match open and looked at the picture of a kid with a shaved head named Rex who was looking broadly at the camera. Rex was an Aries. He was almost 6'4" and he went to school across town. He had a short bio, but Jon skipped over it to look at the number underneath. 

25%. Twenty five. Only two notches below him and Damian. His stomach turned and he tapped his foot anxiously until his stop and rushed off to get to Damian's dorm.

"What are you-" Damian laughed when Jon collided with him, kissing him as deeply as he could as they stumbled back into his room. He kicked the door shut and kept walking until they hit the desk and Damian had to reach back and catch them against the wall before they fell. "Jon," he breathed, but he bit his lip and dragged him back in. "Jon," he said a little more alarmed and pushed at his shoulder until he moved back. And looked at him. Really looked at him and he could see what he was holding in. "Something is wrong." He pushed loose hair behind Jon's ear and held him. "What's wrong?" 

Jon's hands were shaking when he pulled out his phone and showed him his match profile. He pushed up his glasses, fogged from their kiss. His thumbs were shaking so bad that he couldn't get the page to scroll down and Damian took the phone from him and scrolled. He watched Damian's face as he saw the new face under his own. The score so close to theirs, only two degrees keeping the relationship they had built from crumbling. "You got a match," he said softly. Talking to himself. He looked up at Jon. "It's lower than ours." 

"This time," Jon told him. He couldn't stop shaking. "This time it's lower. But what about next time Dami?" He asked him. "What happens when you get a higher match?"

"I'm not going to," Damian promised him and his eyes were so impossibly soft. 

"You don't know that," Jon told him. Damian didn't say anything and when Jon pulled him back in, he came easily. Jon heard his phone clatter to the floor as Damian pulled at his jacket. He pushed it off Jon's shoulders. He pulled at his shirt and ripped it over Jon's head. Jon pulled Damian forward by his collar before falling back against the bed. And Damian climbed over him, pausing just long enough to look at him as he tossed his own shirt aside. 

Jon felt like he had swallowed a jar full of butterflies. But when Damian reached for his belt Jon caught his hand. Damian looked at him, he was so blurry. Jon reached up and pulled his glasses back down so he could see him and held Damian's face. "This isn't the right moment," he breathed. Damian looked like he wanted to argue but Jon didn't let him. "I want our first time to be… this amazing thing. Not because there is an axe hanging over our heads." He kissed Damian again and he sighed, pushing himself up so that he was sitting on Jon's lap. 

He looked down at him and told him, "I love you." 

The briefest of smiles pulled at Jon's lips. "I love you too."

"What do we do?" Damian asked. He looked so lost that Jon sat up to wrap his arms around him. 

"I don't know."

-

It was well past curfew when he got back to his family's apartment and his parents were hysterical. His mother went in and out of lecturing him and reminding him just how stupid it was to be out late on his own in the city as his father stood behind her waiting for her to calm down. 

"What were you thinking?" She demanded finally as she stood in front of him with her arms crossed. "Do you have any idea how scared we were? You text or answer the phone. You can't do that Jon." 

"I know, I'm sorry," he told her again. "I didn't mean to. Things just got… carried away."

"Were you with your girlfriend?" She demanded. "The one you won't let me meet who has you so distracted?" She turned to Clark who was still watching Jon. "I told you that he was too young to start meeting matches. We should have had him wait until graduation-"

"I wasn't with my girlfriend Ma," Jon told her, his chest feeling tight. "I was with…" He took a deep breath. "I was with Damian Wayne." Her eyes widened at the name. "M-my boyfriend." 

He watched as his mother stepped back. She watched him for the longest minute of Jon's life before she turned to Clark and her eyes heated at his non surprise. "Jon, go to bed," she told him without taking her eyes off of her husband. 

"But-"

"We'll talk more in the morning," she snapped. "Go to bed." 

He barely slept, his parents fighting through the walls keeping him awake. He hated knowing that they were fighting about him but was glad that it was hushed just enough that he couldn't hear what they were saying. He woke up late the next morning and was surprised when he checked his phone that it was barely morning anymore. He jumped out of bed and rushed out into the kitchen and found his mother sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and an old photo album in front of her. 

"Ma, I'm sorry I overslept!" He told her and she looked up at him just as tired. "I can be ready in two minutes, could you write me a…" He blinked when she held a finger to her lips and stopped talking.

"Coffee?" She asked standing up with her mug to get a refill and Jon nodded slowly. He watched her pour both cups and set his at the seat next to hers at the table and pat the chair for him. Jon walked over and sat down slowly, sipping at his coffee tentatively as she flipped the page to a newspaper clipping.

"What are you looking at?" He asked finally when the coffee made him brave enough. She grabbed the seat of his chair and pulled him closer, sliding the book over so they could both see it. 

"This," she sighed, "is a scrapbook of old articles I wrote when I started at the Daily Planet." Jon pulled his eyebrows in and she sat back in her chair. "Your father tells me that he took you to Gotham to meet the Waynes without telling me." Anger flickered over her eyes but Jon could tell that it wasn't meant for him. "I'm sure you know what happened by now?"

Jon nodded and watched as the anger washed out and his mom just looked very tired and a little sad. "I was young when I wrote that article Jon," she told him softly. "I was barely twenty three, being pushed into gossip articles and when I came across Tim Drake's file… I thought I had something." She shook her head. "His own parents validated my research, how was --" she sighed and closed her eyes. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that I wrote something that got a man attacked. Words are a strong thing Jon and it is important to learn from what happens to you. To listen to people. And always go straight to the source."

She reached out and took Jon's hand in hers. "I love you," she told him. "More than I hate Bruce Wayne. I love you, Jon. You are the best things I have ever made and I want you to be happy." 

"Damian makes me happy," he said softly and she squeezed his hand. "He makes me happy Ma."

She nodded and even though it looked hard for her she smiled. "I know that he probably doesn't want to see me… but I'd like to meet him." 

-

Damian scribbled down a note as he read. He had a paper due in - he looked at the clock on his phone - 11 hours and he still wasn't exactly sure what it was actually about. He'd never had trouble with school before, but something about the freedom of deciding his own topic had left him adrift. 

"Damian?" he looked up and smiled. Jon looked nervous, but laughed and wiped at his jaw. "You have charcoal." Damian frowned and rubbed at his face. He heard a chuckle. 

"Finals week. Explains away everything," Lois said. "Thanks for making time." 

"Yes, ma'am," he said and his eyes flicked to Clark standing behind her. "I'm Damian," he said and held out his hand. 

"Lois," she said with a smile and shook his hand. 

"I uh already put us on the list. They said it would be ten minutes. I don't actually know how long ago she told me that though." His knee jiggled as his nerves skyrocketed. Jon sat down next to him and his hand settled on his knee. He looked over to him. This wouldn't be bad. Jon's smile was enough to reassure him. Lois and Clark talked to themselves as Jon rubbed his thumb over his knee. "Did you finish your assignment?" 

"Yeah, this morning. It's drying. I'm trying to figure out this paper," he complained. He showed Jon the assignment. "I thought I had an idea, but I don't think it's actually anything." 

"She liked your last essay. Why don't you just elaborate on that. Maybe link it to a few other novels?" He thought and nodded. Damian felt more sure of his paper as he and Jon talked. 

"Kent. Party of 4?" the hostess called. Clark immediately stepped up and Lois turned to them for a moment before following. They stood and followed them through the restaurant. He caught Jon's hand and gave it a squeeze before they circled their table and sat down. 

"So, Damian. Tell me about yourself." 

"What do you want to know?" He asked, trying to keep his voice calm. He could feel his normal paranoia at being asked questions rising. The fact that this woman already knew so much about him and his family only compounded the sour feeling. 

"So what brought you to Metropolis?" 

"Art. It's my major," he said. "I considered Gotham. My dads went there and I'd get to stay at home. But Metropolis had the better art program. And I felt this Cosmic pull," he said. Jon pinched him and stuck his tongue out at him.

"Art?" Lois said, sounding truly surprised. 

"I draw." 

"He's amazing, Ma," Jon said. "I have been bugging him to draw my ranger, but he's been putting it off."

"I drew you Aragon." 

"It's not the same," Jon whined. "Oh! He drew the Aragon on my desk." Lois hadn't stopped looking surprised. 

"You're not going to join the family business?" Lois asked. 

"No. I thought about it, but my dad, the tall one," he said with a look to Jon, "wanted me to do something that I loved. He didn't get much of a choice when he was my age." 

"One of my, well they aren't actually my cousin, but one of my cousins is actually training with my dad, the short one, right now. She just got her MBA and survived an internship with Lex." 

"Carrie?" Jon asked. Damian nodded. 

"I didn't tell you? Yeah. She texted me the other day. I'm supposed to have dinner with her this weekend." He glanced at their faces. He was talking too much. "I meant to ask if you could come." 

Jon looked at his parents. He'd been grounded since the night of his match. It was part of the reason Damian had made time in his already overloaded schedule. He'd just wanted to see Jon. 

"You can go," Lois said. 

Jon beamed at him and Damian smiled back and looked down at his menu. 

Lois asked a few more questions. Then Clark told the story of their first date. Lois rolled her eyes at him, but he could see the affection in her eyes. It reminded him of Tim when his dad did his crappy impressions. Like they couldn't believe that they actually loved that idiot. As dinner went on and Jon's own stupid stories complete with over the top accents came out Damian knew how they felt. 

-

CG: Your chariot has arrived. 

DW: It better not turn into a pumpkin again. 

CG: No promises. 

Jon looked at him as he read his texts over his shoulder. 

"We have an ongoing argument on whether or not the fairy godmother in Cinderella was actually helping her at all." Jon just raised an eyebrow. "We might have been kids when this argument started," he added. Jon just looked even more baffled. "Come on. Let's go." 

Jon laughed when he pulled him out the door. 

Damian was surprised to see all of the Graysons in the car. Dick had the window rolled down and was waving. Carrie was in the backseat rolling her eyes at her dad. 

"Can I tease you about this crush now?" Jon whispered as they walked across the lawn. "You wouldn't let me tease you about Jason."

"No," Damian said. 

"You're no fun," Jon pouted and slid in after him. 

"Dad wouldn't let me take the car," Carrie said. "Even though I am a grown adult." 

"You'll always be my kid," Dick replied. 

"Hello," Barbara said to Jon. "I don't think we got the chance to meet at Damian's party. I'm Barbara. This is Dick and-" 

"Carrie." She held her hand out for Jon. He shook it. Carrie and Dick bickered back and forth as they drove through the city. Jon watched them with a smile. Laughing at what they said. He took his hand. 

They went to an Indian restaurant that Damian had never heard of, but Dick swore was the best in the city. Jon argued with him. Damian joined in when Dick dissed his favorite samosas. 

Dinner was loud and everyone talked over each other. Damian followed each conversation as they overlapped and drifted in and out. 

"Our match wasn't that much higher than yours," Dick said. Damian's attention moved from Carrie to the other side of the table. "We'd known each other what 6 months?" 

"Five," Barbara corrected. 

"We've been together nearly 30 years now." Dick looked at Barbara. "When did we get so old?" 

"It hasn't always been easy, but no relationship is. I think people have forgotten that some. Sure high matches are great, but they still have to work at their relationships." Barbara looked at Damian and he could see something in her eyes. "You know that. Your dads fight and they're as close to a _perfect match_ as you can get." 

"I think I knew she was the one after our second date," Dick said. "I was dating another one of my matches. She was a 54 I think. But with Babs it was like someone had filled my chest with helium." 

"Which I still don't think is a good thing," Barbara said. 

"I didn't want anyone else."

"He's going to say it," Carrie said flatly. Dick grinned. 

"I knew she was my forever girl." 

Carrie groaned, but Damian watched Barbara who smiled like he was saying it for the first time as Dick leaned over and kissed her. 

\---

It was a stupid idea. Jon knew that. That's why he kept it to himself, trying to focus on all of the good things instead of the bad ones. His parents knew about Damian. And liked Damian. It had taken his mom a few meetings but she had finally stopped asking questions at him and just enjoyed their time. He had come over to help them make pies and Jon's heart nearly exploded when he walked in on Damian and his mom covered in flour laughing at something Jon and his father didn't understand. 

Jon knew that he should be focused on that… but he couldn't help it. He had gotten another match when the break started. It was even lower than the last one, but it did enough to twist his stomach into knots of anxiety. His mom did her best to talk him through it. "I know it's hard, honey. But you need to get used to the idea of this happening. The only way out of Match is to get married. Talk to Damian. I'm sure that no matter what you two will stay friends."

But Jon didn't want to be friends with Damian. He wanted… everything with Damian. So when his class ring came in the mail a size too big… his stupid idea came crashing into reality and he was at Damian's door before he could convince himself otherwise. 

"I didn't know you were coming over today," Damian told him but he didn't seem to mind as he pulled him in by his open jacket. He kissed him and Jon kept his right hand balled in his pocket around the box he'd stuffed in it. He tried to get his nerve to ease before he could do something horrible and embarrassing like throw up. "Are you okay?" 

Jon nodded and tried to say something, but nothing really came out except a weird noise that he tried to cover with a cough. "Fine. Yeah. But I…"

"Jon?"

"D… I have to do something…" He closed his eyes knowing if he looked at him that he would lose it. "Please don't freak out."

Jon dropped onto his knee and fiddled frantically in his pocket for the box he had snuck out of his parents' room. He should have pulled it out before he kneeled, that way Damian wouldn't be staring at him like it was crazy when he pulled it out and fumbled it open to review his class ring. 

"This is stupid, right?" He barely breathed when Damian kept staring at him wide eyed. They flickered to him and the ring and back. "I know it's stupid," Jon told him. "But I want to do it anyway." He offered a smile hoping that it didn't look as crazy as he knew it did. He grabbed Damian's hand and gripped it hard. "I love you, Damian Wayne. I don't want any other matches and I don't want to prepare for a future without you. I want to take care of you. I'll play really hard this season and I'll get drafted and I'll buy my grandparents' farm in Smallville and we can have ten cows and twenty dogs and a handful of three legged cats. And you can draw them every day. And paint the sun sets. And we'll sell art and milk at the county fair." Damian smiled at that, his eyes starting to brighten as they watered. "Marry me, Damian," he begged him. "I have so many plans. So marry me, right now. Please."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love them so much. I wrote this and rereading it just hurt me so much. In the best way. 
> 
> Anyway, let us know what you think. :D
> 
> -DNA


	5. Chapter 5

"Are you out of your minds?" Bart almost yelled as he jumped off of Damian's bed and started pacing the room. Gar was just sitting shocked as he looked at the ring on Damian's hand where he was still holding it out, Damian and Jon watching Bart as he set off on his tangent. "You're kids! Jon, you are still in high school! Your parents are going to kill you! They are never going to be okay with this."

"That's why we aren't telling them till it's already done," Jon said simply. "They won't be able to do anything about it."

"I think you are forgetting that Damian's parents are like bazillionaires?" Bart shot back. "I'm pretty sure they can afford a divorce."

"They would still have to get our consent," Damian said softly. He looked at Jon. "And we won't give them that." 

"That's so fucking romantic…" Gar muttered at them, holding his chest. 

"Gar, you are completely useless," Bart hissed. 

Jon stepped in front of him to stop him from pacing. He grabbed his shoulders when he tried to walk away and he pouted unhappily at him. "Bart, I know this is crazy okay? But you have to admit that everything here has just fallen into place. Sometimes when you know something you just know. And I know that I don't want to do this without my best friend." 

Bart looked at him unhappily. The face he made anytime Jon pushed him into something that could possibly get him grounded. Jon prepared himself for the speech and the human lie detector reminder-- but he didn't say that. He straightened his shoulders and looked up at Jon like he wasn't five inches shorter than him. "So what do we have to do?" He asked. And Jon hugged him so hard they would have fallen over if Gar hadn't jumped up to join in. 

-

"Names and match registration ID's." Jon blinked at the woman at the desk and then at Damian before they pulled out their phones and handed over the profiles to the woman. She blinked at Damian's name and looked back at him and then back at Jon. "You do realize that this is a very low match and you are, by no means, required to wed."

"We know," Damian said dryly and the woman made a face before she started typing into the computer. Damian took Jon's hand. 

She handed them their marriage license and pointed over to the door to their left. "The judge is through that way. Step in line and he will get to you as soon as he can. Once the license is signed by all parties, upload a photo of the document and your match profile will be indefinitely suspended," she said broadly and looked back to the line behind them. "Next."

It was all so clinical. Damian was frowning when they stepped into line, Gar and Bart already waiting inside the courtroom with the other witnesses and families. "Maybe this is dumb to say, but I thought this would be more romantic," Damian muttered looking at the people in front of him. 

Jon squeezed his fingers. "Are you kidding?" Jon asked, smiling at him. "I'm getting married to the love of my life in secret. I think that's romantic as heck." 

Damian smiled at Jon and kissed him until he felt stupid, not caring in the slightest that they were in public. "I love you," he told him with the best and biggest smile that Jon had ever seen. It took his breath away. "Let's get married," he said when the woman at the door called them in. 

Damian paced. Jon watched him from the bed. He looked down at the string wrapped around Jon's finger and then the phone in his hand. He closed his eyes and hit call. 

"Damian? Is everything okay?" His dad asked. He could hear voices in the background, but they went quiet. He must have stepped out of the meeting. Damian felt guilty for a moment. 

"Everything's fine. I just-" he paused and Jon touched his fingers. He looked over to him. "Will you come to Metropolis for dinner tonight with Jon and I? I know it's a three-" 

"Yes," Tim said before Damian could finish. 

"Oh," he said. Jon smiled. "Do- do you think Dad will come too?" 

"Do you want him to come?" 

"Yeah. Yeah. I really do." Jon rubbed his hand. 

"Then we will both be there."

"Okay," he said. 

"I have to go, kiddo. But we'll see you tonight. Send me the details."

"Okay. I love you."

"Love you too," he replied. Damian hung up and sat down next to Jon. Jon brought his hand up and kissed the deep blue of the stone. "One down." 

"My parents are easy. They like you." Jon grinned and showed Damian the text thread with his parents. They had both already agreed to dinner. Clark even challenged Jon to find a new restaurant. 

-

Their morning disappeared and the next thing he knew Jon was freaking out about the fact that he hadn't gone home to change. Damian rolled his eyes. Jon was in one of Damian's shirts and a pair of jeans. He thought he looked perfect. He told Jon that and got a soft smile. Then Jon shook his head. 

"No. See you are easy. Your parents already hate me. I have to impress them." 

"They don't hate you." 

"Damian," Jon said. He frowned at him. Damian picked at his comforter. 

"They don't. They just don't know you. And once they do it'll be impossible. Because you are impossible not to love." Jon pulled Damian's hands up and slid into his lap. 

"Yeah?" Jon asked and kissed him. 

Damian hummed his agreement. 

"I still want to look like I haven't spent the day making out with my  _ husband." _ Jon smiled his megawatt smile and pushed Damian back to the bed. Damian's alarm went off and Jon shot off the bed and to the closet.

"You're so distracting," Jon complained as he flicked through Damian's clothes. 

"Do you think this one will fit?" He held up a black button up. Damian shrugged and sat up. Jon pulled it on. It fit, but his arms stretched the sleeves more than Damian's did in them. He got up and wrapped around him from behind. 

"You're the distracting one," Damian said. Jon laughed as their fingers got tangled when Damian started to unbutton the ones Jon had done. 

Damian's phone vibrated. 

**CW** : Damian! Did you get married?

**DW** : What? Who told you?

**CW** : Selina. She just got notified. Is it an error? 

**DW** : She can't tell Dads. 

His phone started ringing. 

"Damian Wayne. What did you do?" Selina said as soon as he accepted the call. He was relieved. If she was calling him then that meant she wasn't telling his dads.

"Do they know?" he asked anyway. 

"No. I didn't want to give Bruce a heart attack while he was driving. What were you thinking?" Selina asked. 

"We love each other. This is the only way a higher match can't take him away." 

"You're going to tell them," she said and he knew it wasn't a question. 

"Yes. Tonight. That's why they're coming up here. I didn't want to do it over the phone." 

"Kid. You are braver than I ever realized. Cass says congratulations and she wants to hear all about it after you've told them." 

"Thanks! I'll call you if we survive dinner."

-

Damian felt strangely calm as they walked down the street to the restaurant. The call with Selina hadn't been terrible. He knew that his dads wouldn't take it as calmly as she did, but it gave him hope. Jon nervously picked at the top button of his shirt with his free hand. They had chosen a small restaurant. The last few times they'd gone it hadn't been busy and as they stepped in the door it looked like that trend continued. Jon spoke with the hostess and she nodded along as he explained the plan. He sat down at the table and looked at the other four chairs around the table. Jon joined him. The Kents got there first and Jon kissed his head as he stood. Jon pulled his mom next to him and Clark sat down next to her. They both looked at the other two chairs at the table. But before they could ask Damian saw his dad. Tim's eyes searched his face as he stood then flicked to the other people at the table. He saw the moment of confusion disappear. He was afraid for a moment when he turned around, but then he realized that he had grabbed his other dad's hand. His dad was smiling when he first turned, but the smile dropped off his face. He stopped. Tim tugged and said something that drew his eyes down to him. His dad moved forward. Tim hugged him then took the seat next to Clark, leaving Bruce the last seat between his husband and son. 

The tension was palpable. Damian took Jon's hand rubbed his thumb over the makeshift ring and looked at him. 

"Mom, Dad." Jon hesitated and looked at Damian. 

"We got married," Damian said and looked at his parents. 

"What?" Four voices said all at once. 

"We got married," Jon repeated and pulled their hands up onto the table. Jon nudged him and he pulled his hand up to show off their mismatched rings. 

"That's impossible," Bruce said. 

"How?" Lois asked. "You're in high school." 

"I'm eighteen. And we're a match. We just signed a few forms-" 

"And listened to a judge preach at us about how it was for life and ask us if we were sure a hundred times," Damian added. 

"Then we said I do and we were married." Jon smiled at him.

"When?" Clark asked. But he could tell that he'd worked it out himself. 

"Yesterday," Damian said. "After you dropped us off at the theater." 

"Clark," Lois snapped. 

"What? I didn't know they were going to get married. They said they were watching a movie." 

"You should have stopped Jon as soon as you found out who he was dating."

"Lois," Clark warned. Damian could hear his parents whispering at each other.

"No. It's a bad match. Like it was then. Jon would have found a better match."

"You still can't let that go?" Bruce asked. Lois scoffed and rolled her eyes. He squeezed Jon's hand as they started slinging insults at each other. Tim had a hand on his dad's wrist and was trying to calm him down, but it didn't seem to be working. 

"At least my son has other matches."

"Ma," Jon said. 

"If his other matches are so good then why did he marry Damian? The name? Money? Or was it just so you could force your way into our lives again." 

Damian saw Tim's hand draw back quickly and then his dad seemed to realize what he said. After all these years he'd made the same accusation that Lois had about them. His dad looked to Tim. "No. I didn't-" He looked at Damian then Jon. 

It was like a bucket had been thrown on the table. The fire had gone out in all of their parents. 

Bruce sighed then turned to Damian. "You love him?"

Damian nodded and squeezed Jon's hand. "Y-yeah. I do."

"Hn," his dad said then held his hand out to Jon. 

Dinner was awkward, but not quiet. Both Jon's mother and Bruce stayed mostly silent fuming while Tim drilled Jon with questions and Damian squeezed his hand under the table. Tim wasn't anything that Jon had expected. For someone that Damian referred to as the 'short one', his presence was incredibly intimidating. His eyes were sharp as they combed him over, but for the most part his questions were kind and curious. It wasn't until the end of the dinner that he addressed the both of them. 

"Obviously you are already married." He laced his fingers together and leaned his chin onto them as he looked between Jon and his son. "The damage has been done and we can't talk you out of something you've already done." He glanced over at Bruce who was sitting back in his chair. His arms were crossed and his lips pursed, he had barely said a thing after he shook Jon's hand. "But I'm wondering if either of you took the time to consider the consequences of what you've done."

Lois tightened her grip on Jon's knee and he looked over at Damian with a frown. Damian drew his brows together. "What do you mean?" 

"Have you thought about the media?" Tim asked and everyone's eyes shifted to Lois who grimaced. Only Tim's eyes sat unwavering on them. "Regardless of your number this is going to be a high profile match. There will be interviews. And probably paparazzi. Not to mention the scandal the two of you have managed to create by eloping." 

"Do you only offer problems?" Lois demanded tightly, her hand on Jon's shoulder now. 

"Sorry," he muttered and sighed as he dropped his hands and tapped his fingers on the table, "habit." He frowned and looked at his husband. "Maybe if we talk to Lex-"

"He'd want something in return," Bruce told him with what sounded like a warning in his voice. "Interview rights and the boys running around like prizes on display."

"Why don't we just address what happened?" Clark offered, the only calm parent at the table. "We won't be able to stop the media. But if we get out in front of it, at least we beat them to the punch." Everyone just looked at him waiting for him to continue. "We had a wedding. Let's have a wedding party. Invite who we need to, show that we can play nice with each other and that there is nothing to gossip about it." 

The table was quiet as their parents thought about that, Damian put his arm around the back of Jon's chair and he leaned into him. Bruce spoke first. "That's not a bad idea." He sighed finally and looked at them. "I'll get with Selina to start plans. I'm sure your grandmother will want a hand in it." He looked at his watch and sighed. "We should get going if we are going to make it back to Gotham." He stood and looked down at his son. "Damian, I'm sending a car for you in the morning." 

"But-"

"We let you stay on campus and you got married without telling us. You are coming home for Christmas," he said pointedly, waiting for him to argue with him. When he didn't, both his father's hugged Damian goodbye. Bruce shook Jon's hand and then his father's and Tim surprised Jon by hugging him. He grabbed Jon's elbows when he pulled back and really looked at him, the small hint of a smile changing his face completely. He pat Jon's cheek and shook both his parents hands before he looped his arm through his husband's and walked back to the front of the restaurant. 

They walked out after them, Clark sighing, his arm around Jon's mother who looked exhausted. "Alright Jon, say good night to Damian."

He blinked at him. "But, we just got married." 

"Yeah," he nodded. "And you are grounded." He opened his mouth to argue but it was pretty clear that there would be no arguing about this right now. And with the dinner having gone better than he thought it would, he didn't want to push his luck. "I'll walk him back to the dorm," his father promised and Jon just barely had the chance to kiss Damian before his dad was pulling him away. 

-

The rest of the break was horrible. Jon didn't have his phone, his computer or anything that allowed him contact with the outside world. His grandparents flew in from Smallville after his father told them the news and while Jon had expected them to be furious-- they were actually on his side about the whole thing. 

Jon's grandparents had gotten married when his grandmother was still in highschool against their parent's wishes. They'd had an average match, but they didn't care. They just loved each other and made it work. It was easier with them there, doting on him and demanding to know everything they could about Jon's new husband. And the day before break was over when they left, they demanded that he and Damian come to the farm during summer break. 

His mother begrudgingly gave him his phone back when they got back from the airport. He didn't want to seem too eager so he waited through dinner to run to his room and turn it on. It lit up with messages as soon as he unlocked it. The first text was from half an hour after their dinner. 

**DW:** I know this is stupid and I just saw you. But I miss you.

Jon's heart squeezed and he smiled at the screen as he kept reading. There was a picture of Damian frowning in the back of a car followed by a photo of Bruce glaring at the screen. The caption under it said,  _ "Dad misses you too." _ And Jon practically snorted. 

**DW:** My grandmother is furious that we didn't have a wedding. She's threatening to make us have another one. 

**DW:** I think my dad talked her down. 

**DW:** But now she's threatening searches at the party. 

There was a video of Cassandra signing something at him and Damian translated it saying that she  _ "Couldn't believe anyone so hot would marry her brother." _

There was another video of Dick and Barbara grinning at him as they whispered congratulations before Bruce walked in and they turned around guiltily.

A picture of Stephanie and Harper beaming with their thumbs up to show their approval.

And finally a sketch of him looking back at him. He was smiling, eyes bright and blue and the only color on the page. There was a little heart next to Damian's signature and more than anything Jon wanted to be with him. He clicked his voicemail notification and saw that he had a handful of messages from Damian too. The first one was from Christmas morning and it was five minutes of the phone being passed around before Damian finally got to say Merry Christmas. The next one was Harper on Damian's phone threatening Jon to take care of her best friend. The next was Stephanie apologizing for her daughter's profanity with a string of her own profanities. The one after that was Damian relaying information about party preparations from his grandmother who was stopping him every few seconds to correct him. 

The last message was from New Year's, one minute to midnight. Jon hit play and pressed his phone to his ear. " _ Hi _ ," Damian said, it was the only message that didn't have any noise around him in the background. " _ I know you are grounded and you aren't going to hear this. But it's New Year's and I wanted to hear your voice before the ball dropped. So I called to hear your outgoing message. That's all. I'm lame and I love you. Happy new year… husband _ ." Jon hit play again and listened with his eyes closed thinking about him standing in the little hall by the elevator as he stepped away from his family. He hit call as soon as it ended. 

Damian didn't answer right away but Jon could hear a ringing around him. He frowned and jumped when there was a knock at his window and he could see Damian holding his lit up phone and smiling at him. Jon scrambled off of his bed and went to rip the window open, making Damian stumble slightly as he pulled him through the window and into his arms. He shoved his face into Damian's neck as he pulled at him and when he looked up Damian kissed him hard until they were both grinning and breathless. 

"What are you doing here?" He demanded in a whisper. 

Damian smiled at him but his brow was furrowed. "I haven't seen you in almost two weeks," he said like that was explanation enough. And it was. He cupped Jon's face and said, "I missed you." Jon leaned up and kissed him again, much softer this time before someone knocked on his door and he shoved Damian down under his bed and shut the window before laying back on his bed and pulling open his phone just as the door opened on his mom. 

He offered her an easy smile and she smiled back at him. "Don't stay up too late. You have school tomorrow," she reminded him. 

Jon nodded. "Night Ma."

"Love you kid," she told him and shut the door. 

He waited for a moment before he moved quietly off of the bed and tiptoed to the door. He listened for a second and when he heard nothing he locked the door and got on his knees to pull Damian out from under his bed. Jon didn't give him the chance to say anything. Pulling him in for another kiss as soon as he was off the floor. "Jon," Damian chuckled against his mouth. 

"I'm not done," he told him without moving his lips always from his. He felt Damian laugh again but let Jon pull him into his bed and over him. He didn't know how long they kissed but his lips were hot and swollen when they pulled apart and he sighed in content, running his hands down Damian's chest. "Okay." He let out a breath of content. "You can talk now," he told him but grinned when Damian leaned in and kissed him some more. 

-

The break was terrible. Damian was never left alone. One of his dads or their friends were with him at all times. He hadn't really minded that much, but after having space to himself the change was draining. The fact that Clark had texted him on the drive down to Gotham the next day to let him know that Jon wouldn't have his phone until school was back in session made it worse. Since their match he didn't think he'd gone longer than a day without at least a message. The last few weeks they'd seen each other every day. 

"Do you want to go with me to pick up a client's car?" Jason asked while Damian scrolled through his message thread with Jon. 

"Just you?" he asked. He had jumped at an opportunity to get out of the house a few days before and it had turned into a mob.

"Yeah," Jason replied. 

Damian looked back at the thread and sighed. "Yeah okay." 

"Don't sound so excited," Jason said and rubbed his head as he passed him to grab his jacket. 

He frowned as they turned off the highway circling the city. Jason was humming along to some old rock song on the radio and when Damian saw the 'Metropolis 100 miles' sign he looked over to Jason. 

"Where is the car?" 

"Huh? What car?" Jason asked with an innocent look to him. 

"My dads will be mad," Damian said. 

"They'll get over it," Jason replied. Damian watched him drive for a while. He turned back to the window and watched the land go by. 

"Why did you tell me to talk to Dick?" Damian asked. He'd been thinking about it for the last few weeks. 

"Because I knew he wouldn't be able to go five minutes of watching you two without talking about him and Babs getting married." Jason glanced over to him. "And I knew the idea would stick." 

"What?" Damian asked. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. 

"I don't like the system. I never have. Most high matches are shit. Sometimes you meet someone and just know. You love them and don't need a number to tell you that you're meant to spend the rest of your life with them."

"But you and Steph-" 

"I'd lied on my first assessment, said that I only liked guys. I didn't want a match. I just wanted to be left alone." Jason shrugged. "Then your dad walked into my English class. And I got to watch how their match, I don't know, made him blossom or some shit," Jason mumbled. "I thought maybe I was wrong and matches weren't all like my parents', like Tim's. Then I met Steph." Damian saw the smile grow on his face. "We dated even though we weren't on each other's lists. And I knew. I knew that we were meant to be together. But Steph believes in the system. She wanted to find her match. I hadn't told anyone that I'd lied on my assessment. So I changed the setting and a week later there she was. My 66." Jason looked over to him. "My point I guess is that you knew he was it, right?" Damian nodded. "Someone just needed to show you that losing him wasn't the only option. Sometimes love is enough."

-

Jason told him he'd be back in an hour when he stopped in front of the Kent's building. Damian didn't want to waste a second of it. He sprinted up the fire escape after nearly falling a couple times trying to get up in it. He saw Jon smiling at his phone and reached to call him when his phone started ringing. Jon pulled him in and it was like he was wrapped up in his favorite blanket on a rainy day. 

When they separated for more than just a breath, he asked Jon what all he had missed. Jon told him about his grounding, and how much that had sucked. Then about his grandparents, and the surprise acceptance from them. He told him about their insistence that the two of them come visit. Then Jon teased him about his excitement that he'd get to meet a cow. By the time his phone went off he felt a little less like there was a gap in the story of Jon that he'd been building in his head. He checked his phone. It was Jason's warning that he had ten minutes. He'd given them another 45 minutes than they'd agreed. 

"What?" Jon asked and poked at the smile on his face. 

Damian shook his head. "I can't believe I had to sneak out to spend time with my husband."

"It won't be forever. You'll be back soon." 

"Two weeks," he agreed. "But that feels like forever."

"I'll have my phone. At least we'll be able to talk again," Jon said with a smile. Damian traced it with his thumb. He'd missed his smile most of all.

Damian sighed and kissed Jon softly. "I don't want to leave, but I have to go." 

"Be prepared for a response to everything you sent me." 

"I'll bear that burden," he said and stood. Jon looked up at him and he ducked down to kiss him again. He was so beautiful. "Good night, Jonathan Wayne," he said as he opened the window.

"I thought we agreed we were hyphenating," Jon called. Damian ducked out of the window. "I love you, Damian Wayne-Kent." 

He stuck his head back in. "I love you too." 

-

His dads didn't say anything about him coming in late. Jon hadn't texted him much after they'd left Metropolis. He was pretty sure he had fallen asleep. The next morning Damian woke up to Jon finishing their conversation from the night before by himself, even answering for Damian. 

**DW** : You are so weird. 

**JK** : You love it.

**DW** : I do. But you're still wrong. 

The rest of the week passed and details were stamped out and invitations sent out. He was listening to Jon do his homework, which was mostly him mumbling about numbers, when his dad walked in. Tim looked at Damian's phone and saw how long they'd been on the phone. 

"Come on. We have one last thing to do before the reception." 

"Damian?" Jon called. 

"My dad needs me for something. I'll call you back." 

"Okay. Bye! I love you." 

"Love you too. Number 9 is wrong by the way. You used the wrong formula." 

"What?" Jon asked as Damian hung up. 

"What do we have to do?" 

"It's a surprise." 

A surprise that included a drive to the airport and the shortest flight Damian had ever been on. His dad didn't seem to care as they stepped into the Metropolis airport. He followed behind him as he weaved through the crowds and out into the waiting line for cars. 

"Damian!" 

He heard Jon's voice and turned. Jon was hanging half out of a truck that Damian should have recognized. He ran to it and pulled Jon further out of the window as he hugged him. "What are you doing here?" he asked once Jon was back in the window. Jon moved to the back seat and pulled Damian in after him, while Tim took the front. 

Damian watched him greet Clark. Neither of them looked comfortable, but it wasn't the open hostility that the other set of parents had. 

"Where are we going?" Jon asked. 

"Dad said it was a surprise. I hoped you'd know." 

They drove back downtown and parked at a small shopping center. Damian squeezed Jon's hand when they walked into a jewelry store. 

"I know that these are special, but we thought you might like to upgrade." 

Jon looked at the frayed string wrapped around his finger and back to Damian. "Yes," Damian said. He tugged Jon over to the glass. The helper went through the cuts and options. By the end of it Damian's head hurt, but they had two new rings on their fingers. 

"We can pay our half," Clark insisted as they walked back to the truck. 

"Let me. To pay you back for being there for Damian when I wasn't." 

Damian focused on Jon's hand and not his dad. They'd talked a few days after Christmas about why he'd hid their relationship. Then about all the time he'd spent with Jon and Clark, and the day after his birthday. Damian knew that it had hurt him to hear, but it felt good to let out. When Tim told him he was sorry, and hugged him, it felt like he had really closed the book on that part of his life. Now it was just the rest of it, with Jon and their ridiculous families. 

Clark took them to dinner, and insisted that he pay. It didn't take long for the conversation to pick up. He was surprised when his dad laughed at one of Clark's jokes. 

"B used to tell me that same joke. I told him it wasn't funny. But he's just been telling it wrong," Tim said. 

"He never has been able to tell jokes correctly," Clark agreed. 

"It's the punchline," Tim said. "His timing is always off." 

Damian was surprised when the conversation shifted. It felt a little surreal hearing Clark joke about his dad with his other dad, like they had just been old friends and not matches. Jon looked like he agreed as he watched them with a faint look of shock. Jon was leaning against him as they walked back to the truck. His fingers were trailing up and down Damian's side and he wished that their dads weren't silently following after them. 

"He deserved better," Clark said. "Don't get me wrong, I love my wife and I'd still pick her, but sending that message is probably my biggest regret. I've wondered for years, if I could have saved us all this pain, if we'd gotten actual closure. Maybe I wouldn't have been so-" Damian glanced back at the pause. Clark shrugged, like he'd been looking for a word and hadn't been able to find it. "Maybe Lois wouldn't have felt so uselessly angry, and Bruce wouldn't have been the easiest thing to direct it at." 

"You shouldn't blame yourself. But I can't say I disagree," Tim said bluntly. "But what's done is done. You can only move on at this point." 

Jon pulled Damian to him and he barely missed walking into a light pole. Jon laughed and teased him and Damian focused on him and not the conversation behind him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Babies. Love them.
> 
> 😍😍
> 
> -DNA


	6. Chapter 6

Jon wasn't surprised when the kids at school started muttering when he walked by. The Waynes had sent his parents a statement to review a week after Damian snuck into his room to make sure it was good before they released it. It took no time for it to get around the school. Not only was Jonathan Kent gay-- but he was married. To a Wayne. 

Bart told him that he should just take his ring off because that's what they were all looking for- but Jon didn't want to. Taking his ring off would only make them ask instead. And it made him happy. Everytime a group walked by or stared at him a little too long, he could look down at it and feel a little better, remind himself that he would be seeing Damian soon and nothing else really mattered. 

They had the date of their reception party set for the first day of summer break. It would be a few days after Jon's graduation and a couple weeks after Damian's finals and their parents had agreed to all come together so that they could discuss what their sons' future would be. Damian seemed worried about that. He knew they were adults and old enough to make their own decisions, but they still didn't know what would happen. But Jon had a plan. He knew what he needed to do to make sure their parents didn't have any say in what they chose to do, he just had to make sure the season went well. 

Baseball was in full swing by the time Damian got back to town. Jon was busier than ever as the captain, making sure that his team was in top shape, sometimes staying late to help them practice. And the coach had made Jon the starting pitcher, so he stopped going to the cages and spent his mornings at school throwing to a net. 

He fell face first into Damian's bed as soon as he let him into his dorm. He laughed and sat down next to him, pushing at his arm. Jon groaned. "Just tear it off," he begged but Damian rolled his eyes and lifted it to stretch him out. 

"It wouldn't be so tight if you stretched it after practice too," Damian told him as he pulled it forward slowly and Jon groaned again. "Or if you took a day off every once in a while."

"My husband is so bossy," he said, rolling over to grin at him. He loved the tiny smile it always pulled out of Damian when Jon called him that. He pulled at him until Damian leaned over and let Jon kiss him. 

"You really could stand to skip a morning of practice," Damian whispered when he curled into his side. 

Jon closed his eyes and let out a content sigh. He was the most relaxed he thought he had ever been. "Can't." He yawned and turned into Damian, burying his face in his chest. "I've got big plans, babe, big plans." Damian pestered him about those plans until Jon fell asleep on him. 

-

It was like that for a month. Jon would get to school before class to practice then Bart would fill him with coffee to get him through school and then Jon would practice again. He had been so sure that Damian would get tired of him always being tired, but he was too happy to spend his time with Jon tucked into bed or on the couch and sometimes even helping Jon with his homework so he wouldn't fall behind. By the time February hit Jon could feel the difference in his pitch and he was excited for their first game. 

It was freezing outside when he woke up that morning. He should have known that it would be, but it twisted his stomach in nerves. All he could think about for the entire day was his fingers being too numb to hold the ball. Practice after school was short and he barely had time at home before he had to go back to school. His parents bundled up and they drove there in his dad's truck, his mom pestering him as his dad offered advice. He nodded through it all, but didn't speak. This season had to be perfect. He had to focus. 

He went and got dressed with the guys, listening to the coach's usual speech and pulled his hat on before they went to warm up. His parents waved at him when he walked out onto the pitch and he waved back. It wasn't until he saw Damian huddled in the back with Bart and Gar holding a huge sign with his name and a cow on it that he grinned. He had to wait until after the warm up to meet Damian at the fence wishing he could knock it down. "You drew me a cow," he said feeling weirdly touched, wrapping his fingers over Damian's through the chain link fence. 

"I did." Damian sighed like it was a burden. "So if you don't win, you disappoint me  _ and  _ our cow." 

He kissed him through the fence, not caring that everyone and the moms of everyone he knew were watching. "I love you," he told him when the coach yelled for him to head to the dugout. "Dinner with my parents after the game?" 

He made a face like that was a stupid question. "Of course," he told him and Jon snuck another kiss before the coach yelled again. 

Damian had never been a big fan of sports, but he liked watching Jon do them. Watching Jon strike out another batter while sitting between his best friends was even better. They yelled and cheered and dragged Damian into it too. When there wasn't much going on they talked. Bart insisted that Damian join them next week for their next D&D session during the seventh inning. 

"Are you sure?" Jon had explained their story months ago and updated him on it after every session, but Damian had never thought it was something that he would be a part of. It was Jon's thing. 

"Yeah. Jon said you were really into it. And we've been needing a fourth."

He looked between them. 

"I'd like to," he said. 

"Awesome." Gar bumped him with a huge smile. 

-

"Your chariot has arrived," he said as soon as Jon answered. 

"I'll be right out."

Damian chuckled when he looked down and saw that Jon had hung up. 

"Are you supposed to be a prince?" Jon asked. "You're wearing converse." Damian pulled Jon in and kissed him. "And the car isn't even white," Jon said when they separated. 

"Shut up," he said with a laugh and kissed him again before he could say anything else. 

"We should actually leave. My mom did not like the idea at all," Jon said and opened the door. He tossed his backpack in and climbed in after it. Damian looked up at the building before following. 

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" he asked as the driver pulled away. 

"She can't really make me come back."

"I don't want you to get in trouble," he said. Jon smiled and touched his chin before kissing him. He felt himself melting into the touch. He pushed Jon away and bit his lip. "Stop doing that." Jon just grinned at him. 

"It'll be fine. Pa knows and he was fine with it. I think he really just wanted me out of the house. My parents are worried about what everyone is saying." 

"Are you?" He asked. Selina had sent a few of the speculation articles to him a few days ago. None of it really mattered. They were married. It couldn't be undone. 

"People whisper around me more now," Jon said. 

"My family knows it's not true. Your friends know.  _ I know. _ I think that's all who matters right?" 

"I guess," Jon said. "But my Ma is still worried about the attention." Damian tried not to react to that. A part of himself was bitterly happy that she was upset, but then he thought about the worried wrinkle between Jon's eyebrows and that this was his mother in law and pushed it away. 

"So what are we doing?" Jon asked. 

"Well, I thought I could show you around Gotham. My dad, your favorite, gave us a ten o'clock curfew even though I haven't ever had a curfew. But uh, he also wanted to invite you to family movie night." 

"Whose turn is it to pick?" 

"Cass, thankfully." Damian smiled. "Then tomorrow is the tall one's birthday dinner. It's just family and friends. My grandmother is excited to officially meet you." 

Jon looked nervous, but leaned against him. They spent the rest of the drive showing each other jokes, talking about their classes, and planning Damian's character. 

Tim was waiting for them when they stepped out of the car. He hugged Damian and after a moment hugged Jon. 

"Let's go get you settled," he said. "Oh and call your dad. I promised him that I'd let him know when you made it." 

"O-okay," Jon said. He waited until they were alone in his room to call. It was a short conversation. And it ended with a serious sounding, "yes sir".

"Okay. So where are we going first?" 

"All of my favorite places," Damian said. 

He took Damian to the nickel arcade Dick had shown him when he was seven. They spent twenty dollars and when they left, Jon's pocket still jingled with coins. Jon held his hand as they looked at the mural painted into one of the brick walls. You could still see the old paint from the original business, and a few more that it had been. Every few years the mural changed. He had loved walking by on his way to school and seeing a completely new wall pop up overnight. They walked around just looking at the city. Damian wrapped Jon up in his scarf when he complained about the cold as they stepped away from the protection of the buildings. The bay was always a few degrees colder. 

Damian slipped through a narrow break in the fence and turned around. Jon was staring at him, then looked at the narrow strip of concrete behind him. 

"Are we allowed out there?" 

"It's fine. They put the fence up to keep people out during the winter." 

"We're people, aren't we?" 

"It's only meant for tourists. I know the way." 

Jon reluctantly held his hand out and Damian took it. The sun was starting to fall and as they walked around the old observatory that had been abandoned years ago after a storm, Jon's breath caught. Damian smiled as he looked out at the sunset reflecting off the water of the bay and the lights of the city slowly growing in the distance. They strolled down the breakwater. Damian watched the small waves slide up against the step below them, then back out. They stopped at the very end. Jon rested his head on his shoulder. 

"This is your favorite." 

"It is," he agreed. The city was quiet. They were far enough away that the sounds of the cars and sirens were whispers on the wind. The only noise was the water. 

"I used to come out here when I got tired of," he shrugged. "I don't know, being a Wayne. I'd set up here and sketch until my dad texted. Then I'd head back." He turned back to the city. 

"That doesn't sound like a good memory," Jon said. Damian looked over to him. 

"It's not all bad. We come out here every summer. My dad hates sand. So he's not a big fan of the beach. The Pier is a tourist attraction, so we come here. It's mostly just locals." 

He stepped down to avoid a patch of ice. 

"I want to go swimming," Jon said. Damian turned to look at him. 

"It snowed yesterday." 

"I know," Jon said with a laugh. "You made fun of me for being cold."

"You looked like the stay puff marshmallow man." Jon frowned at him and Damian wanted to kiss the pout off his face. 

"Well if you're so impervious to cold why don't you go for a swim." 

Damian looked at Jon, saw his challenge and couldn't let it go even though every rational part of his mind was yelling at him not to be stupid. He took off his jacket and hoodie and handed it to Jon before unlacing his boots. 

"Damian," Jon said when he handed him his boots and socks. "I was joking." Damian took a step down. The water splashed up and he took a quick breath as the cold hit his toes. "Damian. Don't be ridiculous." 

"My husband wants to go swimming. So let's go swimming." He turned to face Jon before stepping down into the water. He ignored the biting cold and dropped off the ledge. When he surfaced he regretted everything. "Shit. This was a terrible idea!" he called and flopped over onto the bottom step. A wave of water washed over him and he whimpered. 

"Get out of the water you idiot," Jon called and held his hand out. 

"No, you'll get wet." He climbed out of the water. He was already shivering, his teeth clattering as he reached the final step. Jon draped his jacket over him and wrapped the scarf Damian had given him just an hour before back around his neck. Damian bundled into it. Jon grumbled about him being a fool as he put his socks back on and shoved his feet into his boots. 

The driver looked at them like they were crazy when they fell into the car. Jon pulled Damian into his arms and he shivered for the short drive back to their building. The heat felt amazing when they stepped into the lobby. 

"Fuck," Jon whispered. "Where are your keys?" Damian pat his pockets. Jon sighed and knocked. Cass answered and Jon pulled Damian in, walking straight back to the bathroom. Jon started the water as Damian's trembling fingers worked out of his jacket. Jon was back helping him out of the rest of his clothes. He sank into the warm water and let his head float as he looked at Jon.

"You're such an idiot," Jon told him as he took his hand. 

"Y-you d-dared me."

"Damian?" Jon turned back at the knock at the door. Damian realized that Jon was sitting next to the bathtub holding his hand as his body slowly stopped shaking and the aching cold bled away. "Are you boys okay in there?" 

"We're fine," Jon called. "Damian fell into the bay. But he's warming up." 

The rest of the night was Tim flitting around making sure that he was warm and all of his fingers and toes were okay. Jon sat next to him and laughed at him whenever his dad left. The only positive was that Jon was allowed to sleep with him. 

He fell asleep with Jon's warmth wrapped around him and woke up feeling like he was back in the water all over again. He shivered until Jon woke up. 

Jon got Damian settled into a blanket burrito and wrapped a heated blanket around him before he turned the TV in his room onto the game show network and grabbed his glasses. He tiptoed out into the dark apartment, it was barely past five in the morning and he felt like he was an intruder in the Wayne house with them all asleep. But Damian had whined about his throat hurting and he had the sniffles. Jon knew that if he had his way he’d sleep all day and he wanted him to eat something before he passed out again. It took him three tries to find the switch that turned on the kitchen lights. He’d slammed the hall light back off when he hit them on accident and waited but when no one came out he let out a breath and found the pantry. He was glad to see that they had a tub of oatmeal. He pulled it out and found the milk in the back of the fridge before he grabbed a small pot from the cabinet. He poured in the oatmeal when the water started to boil and pulled out another small pot to heat the milk slowly next to it. 

“Holy Cow!” he gasped and nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned around and saw Damian’s dad, the tall one, leaning silently against the island watching him curiously. Jon clutched his chest and let out a nervous laugh. “Sorry Mr. Wayne. I didn’t hear you.” 

He waved off the apology. “What are you doing?” His voice was neither cruel nor kind. It was distinctly unreadable. 

“Oh,” Jon looked back at the stove. “I’m making oatmeal cereal?” He offered, but when Bruce looked confused he explained. “It’s nothing special. But my Pa makes it every time I get sick. It’s soft and warm and basically just tastes like sugar and milk so…” Jon trailed off feeling nervous with Bruce watching him. 

“You’re making it for Damian. To make him feel better," Bruce finished for him, eyes a little softer as he said it. 

Jon nodded and smiled a little sheepishly. “Would you like some?” he offered with a hopeful smile. It seemed to throw Bruce off because he blinked and practically stammered out a ‘ _ sure. _ ’ and went about making coffee, casting side eyed glances at John while he stirred the oatmeal. 

“Your father was fond of cooking when… I knew him," Bruce offered and cleared his throat.

“Oh, he still is sir," Jon told him happily, figuring that the best way to get past the awkwardness was to push through it. Being as normal as he could was the best way that he knew how to get Bruce to open up with him, and Jon was sure that if they just talked more he would see how much Jon loved Damian and everything would be fine. “He does most of the cooking. Mom travels a lot for work so it’s just us at home most of the time.” 

“And you like cooking as well.” 

Jon laughed and shook his head. “I’m horrible at it.” He grinned at Bruce and looked back down at the pot. “But, I did learn how to make oatmeal so I guess I’m not completely hopeless.”

He almost jumped again when Bruce chuckled, making Jon’s eyes jump back up to him. He poured two cups of coffee and scooted one over to Jon as he leaned back on the counter next to him. “Tim was a hopeless cook when I met him," he admitted and Jon’s chest warmed slightly as Bruce opened up. He looked more like a dad when he was smiling. At least Jon thought he was smiling. He definitely looked less grumpy than he normally did. “But he could make one hell of a sandwich. It didn’t matter what was in the fridge, he threw it together and it was always good.” He chuckled again as he took a sip of coffee, “Or it wasn’t and he was too cute so I repressed it.” 

Jon turned off the stove. “What was it like?” Jon asked him. Bruce looked over and raised an eyebrow at him. “When you met Tim. Did you just know?” Bruce still looked confused and Jon pushed up his glasses to wipe at his face. “It’s just that, when I met Damian it was like we had this...cosmic connection. And our score is so low but...I’m explaining this badly…” he grumbled feeling embarrassed at the way that Bruce was watching him. 

“No, I think I understand.” Bruce frowned and scratched the back of his head. “And I have felt that connection before. But not with Tim.” Jon was confused until it hit him in his stomach that he was talking about his father. “Can I be blunt with you Jon?” Bruce asked him, shifting on a moment into the business tycoon that controlled all of Gotham. He nodded because his throat felt too dry to speak, both of his hands holding the coffee Bruce had given him to his chest, like the heat would protect him from whatever was coming. “Tim is the love of my life and I would not trade the life of the family I have with him for anything in the world.” He paused and looked at Jon like he was waiting for him to say something. But when he didn’t he continued. “I don’t have any ill will towards your father. He got a higher match and the system states that when that happens you follow the rules and trade up. Your mother and I are a different story…” His eyes narrowed and he cleared his throat again. “I know that I reacted poorly to you matching with my son. But I don’t think you are a bad kid.” His eyes softened a little again. “But Damian…” He sighed. “We tried so hard to have Damian. He’ll always be my little guy. And you look so much like your father. I know it isn’t fair of me to put that on you, but I am worried that he will get hurt like I was.” 

Jon watched Bruce for a moment, neither of them relenting their gaze to the other. It took everything in Jon to ask, “Can I be blunt with you now, Mr. Wayne?” Bruce nodded and Jon let out a shaky breath. “Damian and I are married. That was my idea, I’m sorry.” He shook his head, cursing himself for apologizing when he wasn’t sorry at all. “But I got another match and I didn’t want to lose him so…” He took a deep breath. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going to get another match and leave. I love your son...I love your son and,” he smiled despite himself, “I want to have a barn full of cows with him.” Bruce’s brow pulled in but he huffed out a laugh at that. “But I am sorry for not asking permission before I proposed,” he offered sheepishly. “My Gran would throw a fit if she knew.” 

“Then maybe we shouldn’t tell her," Bruce offered and held his mug out. Jon smiled and clicked his own against it, relieved when Tim walked into the room and asked Bruce if he was done interrogating their son-in-law.

That relief was short lived when Tim checked Damian’s temperature and deemed him too sick to be around his grandmother who was back in remission from her own illness. “I’m sorry kiddo, you’re going to have to stay home and rest.” 

“I can stay with him?” Jon offered but Tim bat that off. 

“He’ll be fine. Besides, Martha is dying to meet you. You don’t want to disappoint your new grandmother do you?” he asked, giving him a sharp eyed look. 

“N-no?” he asked. 

Tim smirked and pat his shoulder. “It’ll be fine," he promised and waited for Jon to kiss Damian goodbye before he shepherded him out of the room and then the apartment. The drive up to the manor outside of the city was a pleasant and quiet one. Jon sat in the back with Cass, texting back and forth as she showed him the signs for some of the words and he stumbled through them. 

Jon should have known that he had nothing to worry about. Damian's grandparents were instantly warm to him, his grandfather brushing his handshake aside to hug him and his grandmother telling Tim just how handsome she thought Jon was. Lunch was nice. He felt bad taking up most of the conversation when it was Bruce's birthday, but he didn't seem to mind. They all asked him questions. About his grades. His parents. His friends. His hobbies. Tim was delighted to hear that he'd gotten Damian to play dungeons and dragons with him and his friends. And he was prepared for the big question before it came up. 

"So you will be graduating soon." Thomas said, "what are your plans for school?" 

Jon cleared his throat, his palms feeling sweaty. "Actually, I play baseball sir. I'm really good." His face felt hot but he kept going. "I have a scholarship to play for Metropolis University. But my coach is friends with the owner of the Mammoths and if we get to play offs this year, they are going to send some scouts down to watch."

Everyone was quiet for a minute before Martha spoke. "That is very impressive."

"Thank you, Ma'am." He laughed nervously. "Maybe you'd all like to come watch?" 

She smiled so widely at that that Jon was sure it hurt. "I think that would be wonderful," she said and looked up at Thomas who smiled lovingly back down at her. 

He wasn't sure how he and Bruce ended up alone in the den, but Jon took the moment to sit next to him and pull an envelope out of his pocket. "Damian told me not to get you anything, but he said you like baseball so…" He ducked his head as he handed it over and Bruce narrowed his eyes, looking amused as he opened it. It was a set of baseball cards, all signed by the Mammoths. "My coach had some of them visit last year. I have more cards than I know what to do with, I thought you might like them." 

Bruce stared at them for a minute and when he looked back at Jon, he was startled by the actual smile that he saw on his face. It was overwhelming and bright and made Bruce look so much like Damian that Jon couldn't help but smile back. "Thank you, Jon," he said quietly. 

He swallowed and smiled back. "You're welcome. Sir," he added with a shaky laugh. 

Damian woke as Jon curled up behind him. He hummed and hugged his arms tighter to his chest. 

"How was it?" he asked. His voice sounded whiny. He had thought he felt better earlier, but as soon as everyone had left it was like a weight dropped on him and he'd gone back to bed. 

"Your dad smiled at me," Jon said and kissed the back of his neck. He turned to look at him and Jon smiled. "The tall one." 

"Really?" he asked. Jon nodded and let him go so he could turn. "Like an actual smile?" 

"Yeah. I think he hates me 5% less." 

"I think a smile is at least 18%." 

"I'm actually supposed to be seeing if you want to join movie night. Cass gave your dad her pick." Damian would have stayed in bed with Jon for the rest of the weekend if he could, but he nodded. The smile Jon gave him was worth the hassle of getting burrito'd once vertical and following Jon to the theater. Tim stood up when they walked in and chuckled as he checked his temperature. Damian grumbled about the attention before stumbling by and sitting on the couch next to his other dad. He leaned against him and looked at the TV. He got a kiss to the top of his head. 

"Join us," Bruce said. Damian looked over to Jon who looked like he wasn't sure where to sit. Tim had already settled next to Cass and was whispering to her. Jon sat down and Damian moved so he was laying with his head in Jon's lap and his feet in his dad's. Jon ran his fingers through his hair as the movie started. 

"Do your Blanc," he said to Jon after the opening scene. Jon looked down at him in a panic and shook his head. 

"You've seen it?" Bruce asked. Jon looked over to him then back to Damian. 

"Uh, Yes sir. Damian showed me on our second date." 

"Third," Damian corrected. "The night we met counts." 

"No it doesn't," Jon replied. "Dates are planned ahead of time." 

"We both planned to be at the party," he replied and coughed. Jon rubbed his back. 

"We've watched all of them together," Jon said to Bruce. "They're Damian's favorite." 

He pinched Jon, who yelped and flicked Damian on the ear. "You weren't supposed to tell anyone," he hissed. 

"Oops," Jon said with a smile. Damian dared a glance at his dad and Jon was right, there was an actual smile on his face. 

"You like them?" Bruce asked Jon. 

"Oh yeah. The first one is my favorite, but the 4th one is close," Jon replied. They spent the rest of the movie talking about their favorite scenes and other movies they liked. Damian closed his eyes and listened to them bond. 

"Damian," Jon said in his terrible accent. He groaned and pushed further into his lap to get away from the drawling syllables. 

"Time to wake up," Jon said again. Damian opened his eyes and turned to glare up at Jon. "What is it, Sweetheart?"

Damian felt himself blush at the endearment. He hated it. He grumbled and sat up. His head spun and Jon helped him back to the bed while his dad grabbed some more of the cold medicine. He took it and accepted the brush against his forehead. 

After both of his dads were sure that his fever hadn't gotten any higher, they were finally left alone. Damian snuck his hands under the back of Jon's shirt. Jon tutted at him, but curled a little closer. 

"I'm sorry," he said. Jon hummed. "This wasn't how I wanted this weekend to go." 

"I know," Jon said. "But it was still a good weekend." 

He still felt like crap the next morning, but was determined that he wouldn't spend it in bed. He talked Jon through making biscuits. After he put them in the oven Jon turned around and stopped. 

"Eggs?" Jon asked. 

"How many are in there?" Damian asked. Jon showed him the carton. "All of them." 

He shifted in the chair and pulled the blanket tighter around him. "I think I can finish this if you want to go back to sleep for a while," Jon said.

"No," Damian replied and sat back up. "I slept all day yesterday. I don't want to sleep anymore." 

He felt a kiss on his head and Tim's hand touched his forehead. "Jon's right, you should go back to sleep." 

"After breakfast," he said. Tim agreed and peeked in the oven. 

"Your grandmother's recipe?" Damian nodded. "We added honey this time." 

"Since we're coming to see Jon in the playoffs," Tim said. "We thought you might want to look at apartments." 

"What?" Damian asked. Jon turned to look at him. Damian smiled. "Really?" 

"You deserve to have your own space," Tim said. "You  _ have _ to finish school." 

"Yeah. I know. We know." He looked at Jon. He wanted to hug him and kiss him and be excited about the home that they'd have, but he couldn't with his dad right there. 

Jon flopped backward onto the bed after breakfast. Damian crawled over him and flopped down. Jon grunted, but didn't make him move. 

"Is it bad that I don't want your parents to help us?" Jon asked. Damian lifted his head to look at him. "Or mine. I want to do it ourselves." 

"I can't access my trust until I'm 25 or graduate college, whichever comes first." Jon blinked, like maybe he'd forgotten for a moment that Damian had claim to any of his parents' fortune. "Even after you get drafted, we'll have to wait until February for the season. And then you'll be away for half of that. I'll still have school. I don't want to live in the dorms. I want our own place." 

"But if your parents-" 

"What if they paid for it until you got your first check?" Jon looked at him. He frowned, looked like he wanted to disagree then shrugged. 

"I'll pay them back too," Jon said. "For all the rent." 

"Okay," Damian said with an indulgent smile and laid his head back down on Jon's chest. 

"I just want to be the one that takes care of you," Jon said after a few minutes, Damian had almost fallen asleep. He felt Jon kiss him and turned into it. Jon huffed. "I love you, and I want to be the best husband." 

"Already are," he replied through a yawn. Jon was asleep beneath him when he woke up. He pushed himself up and went to the kitchen to get some water. The next thing he knew he had his dad's laptop. 

"What are you working on?" Bruce asked. 

"Annual budgets for the next 80 years," he replied. 

He heard his dad choke and looked up. "What?" 

"Just a household budget. Nothing too complicated." 

"Why are you making a budget?" Bruce asked. He leaned over to look at the spreadsheet. He had forecasted, but there were too many variables for it to be completely correct. But his own contribution to their pool would cover anything they needed. 

"Dad said we were going apartment shopping. I want to know how much we can afford. We- we want to do as much of this on our own as we can." Before his dad could say anything he continued. "I know you want to help, and we'll still need it for a while, but-" 

"It's fine, Damian. You're-" Bruce swallowed. "you're married now and you're going to make decisions that are right for the both of you. But you'll always be my little demon so I'll be here to help you if you ever need it." 

Tim walked in draped over Cass' back. She was laughing silently. "Oh you're up. You look like you're feeling better. Do you want to go get burritos with us?" Cass signed 'please come' at him.

"Yeah. Let me go wake Jon up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry guys! I forgot to finish posting this! Both chapters are coming right now! 
> 
> -DNA


	7. Chapter 7

Jon felt lighter than he could remember feeling since the night he met Damian on the drive back to Metropolis. Cass had given him a book of basic signs and he managed to actually sign goodbye from memory winning a wide smile. He was pretty sure that won Tim over as well because he hugged Jon hard and told him he better get into play offs before he grabbed Damian and started fussing with his sweater. But the real kicker was Bruce. Jon knew that he was starting to soften toward him, but he was still surprised when he brushed aside Jon's handshake for a hug. 

"What did my dad say to you?" Damian asked lazily. He had his head leaned against Jon's shoulder, eyes closed as they cruised down the highway. 

"He just said that he really enjoyed getting to know me better," he muttered like it was no big deal. And maybe it wasn't, but it felt like he'd won something. 

-

Damian was sick for the rest of the week and they both had a lot of schoolwork with spring break coming up. They had been planning on a week of long phone calls but that was scrapped as soon as Lois heard the rasp of Damian's voice over the phone and sent Clark to go pick him up. Damian looked a little befuddled when Clark led him into the apartment wrapped in the giant sweater that he usually kept in the truck. Lois wrapped him up and set him up on the couch telling him to feel free to spread out so he could study. 

It was very apparent just how overwhelmed Damian was by Jon's parents fussing over him, but Jon couldn't bring himself to tell them to stop. His dad made Damian tea while his mom checked his temperature, both of them only stopping to remind Jon that he couldn't study through osmosis and to keep his eyes on his work. 

They made him stay the night despite Damian's weak attempt to tell them that he was fine. Lois shut down the idea of them sharing a room, so Jon forced Damian to take his bed while he slept on the pull out. Damian didn’t have class till noon the next day, so his dad told Jon to let him sleep in while he got ready for school. He moved around his room as quietly as he could when he got out of the shower. He dropped his towel and pulled on his boxer briefs before he rummaged through his drawers for a fresh pair of jeans. He pulled them on and turned around to grab a shirt from his closet when he saw Damian sitting up in his bed watching him appreciatively. 

Jon grinned and looked at the cracked door, the sound of his parents down the hallway telling him it was safe before he walked over to the edge of the bed. "Good morning."

"Yes it is," Damian said softly, blatantly staring at Jon's chest. His voice sounded better. 

"You sound better today."

"Really? I feel cold," Damian teased and pulled on Jon's arm until his knee was on the bed. "Why don't you come and warm me up?" He dared, his eyes bright with mischief in the dark room. 

Jon bit his lip and looked back at the door one more time before Damian pulled his arm again and Jon crumpled to his will. He crawled over him as quietly as he possibly could and let Damian pull him in. He hesitated after a moment, pulling back enough to make a face. "I haven't brushed my teeth yet…" 

"I don't care," Jon breathed and leaned back in to kiss him again. 

He was anything but cold, but that didn't make Jon want to stop. He had been dying to kiss Damian since their weekend in Gotham, but his cold had kept them from their real plans. Those plans swam around in Jon's mind now as he licked at Damian's tongue. He was straining against his jeans and Damian reached for him but Jon caught his hand before he could pull them open. "I have to go to school."

Damian let his head fall back and he stifled a groan. "Skip school." 

"And go where?" Jon laughed. "My mom isn't going to take you back until your first class." 

Damian grumbled unhappily and offered half naked plans he knew wouldn't work while Jon fell more and more in love with him with each word. His heart ached but he made himself climb off the bed. He looked down at his obvious erection and sighed looking back at Damian like he was disappointed in him and shook his head. 

"In my mother's house?" He demanded, making Damian smile despite his mood and that turned into a glare. He pulled on a shirt and grabbed his shoes, taking his time tying them before he sat on the edge of the bed and brushed the hair off of Damian's forehead. "Am I a horrible husband for wishing you were still too sick to go to school, just so you'd be here when I got home?" 

Damian beamed at him for the smallest of moments before his smile turned more manageable. "No," he whispered and caught Jon's hand. "I kind of wish I was too." He kissed his knuckles. "But it won't be much longer until we live together. Then we can do whatever we want."

"And you'll be waiting for me when I get home."

"Like a good fifties housewife," Damian agreed with a sigh.

Jon chuckled and leaned in to kiss him again. "God, I love you," he told him, watching the way those words danced over Damian's expression making Jon feel like he'd taken a bite out of the sun. His dad called for him from the kitchen and Jon sighed, his shoulders feeling heavy when he stood up. "I'll call you after practice," he promised and snuck one more kiss before he grabbed his backpack. 

He laughed when Damian called, "have a good day  _ dear, _ " after him. 

\---

Damian hung up with his dad and made himself wait until he was back in his dorm before calling Jon. 

"Hey hey hey!" Jon cheered. He could hear Bart laughing in the background. 

"My dad said yes." 

"What? Really?" Jon asked, his voice growing serious as he shushed Bart. 

"We fly out on Friday. I'll send you the details. I can't believe they agreed." 

"Do you think you can manage not to get sick this time?" Jon asked. Damian laughed and stretched out on his bed. 

"I'll try my best. But I am glad those kids got sick." 

"Damian," Jon admonished. He was laughing though and he knew he wasn't too upset. Jon had been going to spend his spring break at a baseball tournament, but the host school's team had come down with the mumps and they'd canceled it. Jon had barely finished telling him before Damian was planning their trip. It was going to be what their trip to Gotham hadn't been. 

"I wish you were here," he told him. 

"Me too," Jon replied. "Shut up," Jon hissed away from the phone. 

"I just wanted to tell you. Text me when you get home?" 

"Will do," Jon chirped. "I love you." 

"I love you too." 

-

Jon tumbled into his room with a duffle bag and a bag of snacks. Damian shoved his sketchbook back in his bag and listened to Jon list the snacks he brought and everything he wanted to do on their trip. Damian read the signs as they entered the airport. He'd never flown without his parents before. Jon followed him and they managed to get checked in and their bags checked. Jon nearly left his backpack at the counter and they laughed about it as they waited in line for security. 

Jon kept flipping through his passport. He had more stamps than Damian did. Jon told him about the stamps and Damian went through a few of his. Damian stepped forward when it was his turn and then watched Jon who looked strangely nervous as he presented his ticket. He offered Jon his hand when he speed walked over to him. 

"Are you okay?" 

"He asked me what we were going to Belize for," Jon said and Damian glanced back. "I told him sex." Damian snorted. The lady in front of them shot them a look. "Why am I like this?" 

Damian was still laughing about it when they settled down in their gate with drinks and more snacks. Jon settled against his shoulder. 

"Do you want to travel?" Jon asked. 

"Maybe some," Damian answered. "I don't remember a lot of the places I've been." 

"Me neither. We spent six months in Germany, but I only got a taste for sausage. Not that kind, you perv," Jon whined when Damian grinned and pinched him. "I'm not telling you the story anymore. And it was cute. You'll regret not knowing." 

Jon did end up telling him the story that Clark had told Jon because he had been too young to remember. He'd walked up to Clark with a sausage in both hands and asked for another. 

Jon smiled at him from across the gate as he showed him another bag of pretzels and Damian smiled back. It hit him all at once that Jon was his husband. They were actually married. He knew that they were married, he had been there after all and had said the vows. But getting married hadn't changed much about their relationship. If anything it had made it harder with Jon getting grounded, and them not seeing each other for weeks. But even when school started back up, they still only saw each other sporadically through the week. But here they were traveling to another country, alone. Jon sat down and popped a pretzel stick in his mouth and stole Damian's bottle of water. He took his hand when he shoved the half eaten bag of pretzels in with the rest of the snacks. The ring caught the light and he turned his head to kiss Jon's temple. "I love you." 

Jon turned and Damian caught his smile before his eyes widened. "Mr. Wayne?"

Damian turned and the world twisted when Cass started waving as she smiled from between his dads. All of them were in their normal travel clothes. He was sure that his dad hadn't said anything about them traveling. He'd even told him to have fun.

"What are you doing here?" Damian asked. He looked between his dads. One of them had to have planned this. 

"Jon?" 

Damian's stomach twisted and he looked over to where Lois and Clark were standing with their matching carry ons. He felt their week alone shrivel and die. There was arguing between parents when it became obvious that Tim and Clark had planned this without telling the other. Jon talked with Cass, Damian translating for her. She was excited to go swimming and for a moment he felt guilty that he was so mad that they were coming. Then the flight attendant announced that they would start seating and he was angry again. 

Damian ignored his parents and buried his head against Jon's shoulder as he flipped through their movie choices. Thankfully they weren't all sitting next to each other. 

"We'll still have fun," Jon whispered to him. 

"I know. But it felt nice it just being us." 

-

Jon grabbed both of their bags off the carousel and Damian had to look away when he grinned at him. The littlest moments of strength were driving him crazy. The other day he'd watched Jon do push ups because he was bored and Damian was supposed to be studying, but he hadn't been able to look away. Jon knew what he was doing too. He always gave Damian these innocent smiles after. 

Damian followed Jon into the cab with the Kents. Bruce didn't look happy about it. He felt his mood fall even further. Jon was in awe of everything as they drove. He leaned over Damian to look out the window. Damian felt his smile returning and laughed when they took a sharp turn and Jon hit the window. He rubbed his head and Damian kissed it. He tried not to think about Jon's parents still bickering in hushed whispers. 

"I told you," Lois hissed when they stopped in front of a bright white house and Damian could see the water right behind it. 

"He said it was a friend's," Clark replied. Damian grabbed his bag from Jon and headed up to the door. He pushed open the door and wished more than anything that it was just them. Jon didn't stop staring at everything as Damian pulled him through the downstairs and then up the stairs. The first room had two twins, the second had the same, third had a bunk bed. Damian pushed open the last door on the hall and was faced with stairs. He dragged Jon up into the master suite. The only king bed sat in the middle of the room with the view of the beach and the rest of the island. Damian stepped out onto the balcony and breathed in the fresh air. Jon was still holding their bags, like he knew that they wouldn't be staying in this room. Damian pulled the balcony door shut with a sigh and headed back down. His parents were standing at the end of the hall. Cass was already in the room with the bunk bed. He reached for the middle door, but Tim grabbed his hand. 

"Why don't you two take the room upstairs?" 

"Really?" Jon asked. "Have you seen the view?" 

Tim smiled. "Yeah. But this week is supposed to be for you. Take the room." 

Jon didn't need to be told again. He tugged Damian back up and leapt onto the bed after dropping his bags.

"We get a whole week here?" 

Damian set down his own bag and fell down next to Jon. He looked over to him and sighed. "A whole week with our parents who hate each other."

"You mean that isn't your dream honeymoon? Shocking!" Jon started laughing when Damian rolled over and bit at his neck and jaw. 

"As long as you're here it'll be perfect."

"It would be pretty rude if you went on your honeymoon without your husband." 

"I hate you," Damian muttered. 

"No, you don't." Jon yawned into the kiss and Damian shook his head. He really didn't. 

They woke up a few hours later and Jon was starving. Damian didn't think there was a time when he wasn't hungry. They found a Cafe that was still open. Jon hesitated as they passed the doors on their way downstairs, but he took Damian's hand like he was choosing sides and continued down. Damian texted Cass that they had gone for food and would be back. 

They walked and Jon marveled at how small everything was. Within five minutes they were on the other side of the island. Jon went through the menu of pancakes like he would be quizzed on it later. He narrowed it down to two, and when he finally picked one Damian chose the other. Jon's eyes went soft and he shifted closer to him. 

"Do you want to do anything today?" Jon asked as they dug into their food. Damian shrugged. He hadn't expected to be so tired after their flight. "We could just hang out on the beach." 

"Maybe we'll be able to avoid our parents for a while."

They stopped by a grocery store on their way back. Jon managed a block before caving and eating one of the desserts they'd gotten. He hummed and licked the icing off his lips. Damian stole a kiss to get a taste for himself. They shoved their bags into the fridge and pantry and raced to get changed. Jon ran ahead of him. He jumped and spun back to look at Damian before hitting the water. 

Damian set their stuff down before following him into the water at a calmer pace. Jon tugged him in as soon as he got close enough. They floated together hands holding on to each other when they weren't trying to stay afloat. He got tired and Jon followed him back to the chairs that were already set up at the end of the porch. Damian slumped into a chair. He was surprised when Jon slid into his lap. He kissed him deeply. Damian could taste the salt on his lips. He ran his hands over the smooth fabric of Jon's trunks and up his back. Only the thought of getting caught kept his hands there. 

"What if they come down here?" Damian asked when Jon's fingers pulled at the knot on the front of his trunks. 

"It won't-" Jon frowned, but let go. He shifted and laid down against Damian's chest. It didn't look comfortable, but Jon sighed and slid his arms around his back.

The world was dark when Damian woke. He blinked a few times and realized it wasn't dark, but the figure next to them had blocked out the sun.

"Clark made dinner, do you guys want to come in?" Bruce asked. He was dressed down in a loose tee and jeans and he looked more relaxed than Damian had seen in a while. "Sunscreen might do you good." 

Jon's entire back was red and parts of Damian's arms where they were wrapped around Jon were hot. He woke Jon as gently as he could. The sunburn sunk in and Jon whined the entire walk back up to the house. He helped Jon put aloe vera on before they joined the others. Jon had gotten his shoulders into a shirt before it hurt too much and Damian had pulled it back off for him. 

They ate and Damian ignored the tension in favor of talking about the Cafe they'd gone to and the shop they'd stopped at. Jon chimed in with flavors when Damian didn't do them justice. They headed up to bed after eating more of the sweet buns Jon had bought, Jon's brow was pinched with pain when he gingerly sat on the bed. 

"Maybe you should take a bath?" Damian offered. "Then I can put more aloe on and we can try to sleep?"

"A bath sounds like the worst," Jon said, but he followed Damian into the bathroom when he promised he'd feel better after. The tub was huge and there was a skylight above it. Damian turned on the water and fiddled with the temperature until it was perfectly lukewarm. He watched it fill up and when he turned around Jon was standing in his boxers looking nervous. 

"What?" 

"You don't have to stay in here," Jon said, his eyes darting to the water. 

"You won't be able to wash your back."

"I can," Jon insisted. 

Damian frowned at him then his eyes narrowed. "I've seen your dick." 

Jon choked. "I know that! But it's different! And I'll be naked and the lights are on." 

"Do you want me to turn the lights off?" 

"Yes," Jon said with a wrinkle of his nose. He sighed and got up and turned the bathroom light off. He shut the door enough so it was dark, but not completely black. Jon was already in the tub, hissing as he lowered himself in when Damian turned around. He leaned against the bathtub and looked up out of the sunlight. 

"This is the second time that we've taken uncomfortable baths because we are idiots," he said. Jon laughed and ran his fingers through his hair. 

"I already feel better," Jon insisted. "I'll be fine tomorrow."

Damian looked at him before picking up the rag. Jon held back a few whines as Damian carefully washed off the dried aloe. Jon whined at him until he left so he could get out and into his boxers. Damian pulled the covers down. Jon fell onto his stomach across the bed. Damian grabbed the bottle and crawled over Jon. He settled on his ass and Jon swallowed loud enough that he could hear it. Damian reached to pour the gel on Jon's shoulders, but made sure that he didn't lift from his seat. It made him roll against Jon and - 

"Damian," Jon whined. 

"Does it hurt?" he asked. He smeared the gel and Jon shuddered. When he finished, he was hard and nestled against Jon's ass. Jon was biting his lip as he held back the little noises he'd been making. Damian closed the bottle with a snick and set it aside. He didn't want to move, it felt nice. He put his hands on Jon's waist and slid down and back. Jon had giggled and squirmed away from his hands the last time he had tried touching his ass. The arch of his back wasn't hiding from the contact now. He wanted to keep going until he came, but he didn't want to hurt Jon's back. He wiped his hand on the back of Jon's boxers as he laid down next to him. Jon's eyes were glassy as he looked at him. His cheeks were bright red. Damian brushed his thumb over his cheek. His lips buzzed with the noise Jon made when he kissed him. He kept his hands on Jon's jaw and neck as he kissed him. 

"Damian?" Jon asked when Damian scooted down the bed. It wasn't as smooth as he'd envisioned it, but Jon's look of awe kept him moving. He slid his hand under Jon's stomach and pushed up. Jon pushed up and Damian wiggled his way under Jon before pulling on Jon's thigh. It took a few awkward moments for them to get settled. Jon stared at him as his stomach fluttered above him. He ran his hands up the back of Jon's thighs watching him suck in a breath before pulling his boxers down. Damian licked a stripe up Jon's dick and earned a breathy curse. He smirked. 

"Such dirty language," he admonished as he shifted into a better position. 

"Damian," Jon whispered. He looked up at him and met Jon's eyes as he took the tip in his mouth. Jon's body curled in and Damian held on to his hips as he took him deeper. When Jon started moving with him Damian slipped his hand into his own boxers and pumped. Jon's hips jerked further than he expected and Damian choked. Jon made a tiny noise Damian was starting to recognize and Jon was coming. Damian's surprise was muffled and when Jon pulled out Damian rolled over and coughed. Jon started apologizing immediately as he rubbed his back while Damian tried to get his lungs under control. 

"Are you okay?" Jon asked. Damian wiped his face and nodded. Jon's eyes followed the path his hand made and he looked down at the mess he'd made. Jon kissed him and Damian was even more surprised. He leaned back and let Jon finish him off with his hand as Jon licked into his mouth. Hm. This was new. He made a note of it as they drifted off, Jon's arm draped over his stomach and face shoved against his shoulder. 

-

Jon told him he was going running and Damian just stared at him for a few seconds before mumbling, "no," and rolling over to the sound of Jon's laughter. He sat up a few minutes after Jon left. He looked around at the empty room and frowned. He pulled on his trunks and a shirt and headed downstairs. 

His dad was sitting at the counter with his face shoved into a cup of coffee. He sat down across from him and laid his head down on the counter. After a few seconds Tim looked up and yawned. 

"Why did we marry runners?" 

Damian laughed. "Dad went too?"

"He bumped into Jon on his way out."

"They're running… Together?" 

"Yeah. Do you want a cup?" 

"Do you want breakfast?" Damian asked instead. 

"Yes," Tim breathed. Damian smiled and got up. "I'm really glad you inherited your dad's cooking skills." 

He had just finished when he heard Jon's voice. He walked in while talking to Bruce. Jon smiled when he saw him and Damian tightened his grip on the skillet before sliding the omelet onto the plate. Jon hadn't put a shirt on and Damian was pretty sure that he was going to die if he had to keep looking at him with his dads in the same room. 

"You're awake?" Bruce asked and zeroed in on Tim. 

"Yes. I couldn't go back to sleep without your snoring," Tim complained. Damian's lip twitched as he looked down at his plate. He had felt the same. "No, don't hug me. You're all sweaty." 

Jon walked by and grabbed a bottle of water. Damian watched him gulp it down as his dads bickered behind them. 

"Bruce!" Tim shrieked. Damian turned around to see him tossed over Bruce's shoulder. "Put me down." 

"Enjoy the beach, boys," Bruce called and ignored Tim's demands. He heard his dads' laughter echo as they went upstairs and smiled. 

"Do you want to be carried like that too?" Jon asked and wrapped him up in a hug. 

"No," Damian said quickly. Jon hummed. "Really. It's just nice hearing them laugh."

"Sure it is." 

Damian had never made the noise that came out of his mouth as Jon picked him up. His stomach swooped pleasantly at the ease Jon had moved him. 

"Shoot," Jon hissed and they teetered out of the kitchen. Damian flailed and Jon's grip slid suddenly. The next thing he knew there was a creaking crash and they were laying on the remnants of the coffee table. Damian started laughing as Jon sat up with wide eyes. 

"I'm like an inch taller than you idiot," he told him through his laughs. 

"Are you okay?" Jon asked. Damian nodded. 

"What's going on?" Lois asked. Damian looked over to the stairs. Her startled face matched Jon's and it made Damian laugh even harder. They got a lecture once Jon managed to get Damian to stop laughing and had to clean up the mess. Even then Damian's good mood couldn't be ruined. 

Cass asked about a mud bath that a spa on the resort did and Lois volunteered to go with her. Damian saw the eye contact flick between his dads. 

"Are you okay with that?" Tim asked Cass. 

She nodded and told Lois -It'll be quiet.-

"I've been practicing with Jon," she said and her hands moved with her words. Cass smiled even brighter. 

"I looked it up and that dock down the street has deep sea fishing," Jon said. 

"Fishing?" Damian said and made a face as he looked at Tim. He hid a laugh. 

"Yeah me and your dad were talking about going. It'll be fun." Damian nodded. 

"You should take your dad too," Tim said. "The three of you can go and bring back all the fish." 

"I don't-" Bruce and Clark both started at the same time. Jon looked between them and then back to Damian like he regretted bringing it up. 

"You're coming too," Jon pleaded when Bruce agreed after a stare off with Tim. 

"Fishing… Not really my thing. But you like it. So go lure the fishies to their death and have fun."

Jon snorted and tilted his head with a pout. "Are you sure?" 

"Yeah. I'll just hang out with my dad." 

"Your favorite dad," Tim said and jumped on Damian's back. Jon startled. "Yeah. Damian told me I'm your favorite. I think Bruce is going to try and sway you to his side. Don't fall for it. Stay on the dark side." 

"We have cookies," Damian said and cackled with Tim. 

"Uh," Jon uttered and looked between them. 

-

It was uncomfortable to say the very least. The drive to the dock was dead silent, Jon giving up on trying to start a conversation while he sat between Bruce and his father, both of them staring out of opposite windows. At least the drive was short. The cabby dropped them off at the dock entrance, talking to Bruce quickly as he paid while Clark and Jon gathered their rented gear. Then it was more silence on the way to the boat and then another quick conversation with the owner while they loaded up. And then more silence. 

Jon had no idea that his father knew how to drive a boat or where he would have learned it, but he easily took his place at the seat and started them away from shore. Jon watched him for a minute before Bruce tapped his shoulder, he turned to see him grinning at him and waving a bottle of sunscreen. "Damian made me put some on before we left," Jon told him red faced and mortified. 

Bruce's smile turned to a look that looked so dad like it was startling. "Maybe reapply," he suggested and Jon sigged accepting the bottle and pulling his shirt off. The sunscreen had mostly dried when his dad turned off the engine. He walked by and pulled his cap into place, swiping a little stripe of sunscreen over Jon's nose. He grinned as Jon swatted at him and he saw Bruce trying to hold back his own smile as he settled in one of the three chairs on the deck. 

It was quiet again, but it grew strangely comfortable as the sun grew higher in the sky. There were a lot of fish biting and as soon as Jon caught the first of the day, a decent sized bass, they started talking a little bit. It was mostly directed to Jon or about Jon and Jon related things-- but it was talking. And the talking was nice. "Damian sent me the apartments you've been looking at." Bruce started after they talked for a while after his upcoming tournament. "A few of them seemed... questionable." 

Jon grinned. "That's Damian. He said all my choices were too bright and cheery. His favorite is the one off Branthom." 

Clark snorted and they both looked at him. "You'd love it," he told Bruce with a little wrinkle of his nose, mischief in his eyes. "It's all dark and graffitied. Very Gotham. There might even be an alley to sulk in."

"Pa!" Jon hissed but to his surprise Bruce laughed.

"You always underestimated the importance of a good alley. If you haven't learned by now I suppose you never will." 

"Well from what I understand, your husband is quite fond of alleys. Damian told me that he refused to let you sell the building next to yours because it kept the alleyway perfectly dreary." 

And Bruce smiled at that, actually genuinely smiled and his eyes went all soft and strange. "Yeah. He's pretty strange," he said so fondly that it made Jon's heart ache to see Damian. Wishing he was here to see this happen and be in the weirdness of it with them. 

The rest of the fishing trip went by a lot faster than Jon wanted it too. By the time his dad went to start the engine, they had a cooler full of fish and all of them were laughing-- at least until the engine didn't start back up. They tried again and again but nothing happened. They all tried their phones, but there was no signal. So Bruce fiddled with the radio until he reached the coast guard and they promised they would be out their way soon. Only it had taken them over an hour to get there. He sighed and came to sit with them at the little table in the galley. Clark silently pulled out a beer from the fridge and handed it to him before he stopped halfway. "Wait, you don't drink," he started in apology. 

Bruce took the beer and popped it open. "I drink  _ sparingly _ ," he corrected and popped the cap off of his beer. He made a face as he drank it and Clark smirked, surprising Jon when he placed a beer in front of him. 

He looked at his dad in question and Clark shrugged. "18 is the legal drinking age here." He sighed and popped the cap for him. "Besides, I need to start getting used to the fact that you're all grown up. And  _ married _ ." He groaned and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "It's still so strange."

"We're on my honeymoon," Jon complained at him, embarrassed. "It's officially official." His dad made a pained face and then it went blank. Bruce seemed to make the same face quickly after and all too soon it hit Jon that they were thinking about what really made a marriage official. His face went beat red and he shook his head. "No! No, not like… I didn't mean that! It's not  _ that  _ official." 

"Well, why not?" Bruce surprised both of them by asking. "What?" He asked them easily taking another sip of his beer. "I don't need details. But, you're adults. You're married. You are in love, I don't think your parents, or Tim and I ever expected you to stay abstinent." 

"I know that," Jon muttered, staring at the beer in his hands. He peeled at the label anxiously. "But… neither of us have ever…" his cheeks burned and he couldn't bring himself to say the word. "And if you do it… wrong it could really hurt. And I just want everything to be perfect you know? Cause I love Damian and I want him to be the happiest that-- what?" He asked. His dad looked like he was about to cry and Bruce had a hand over his mouth like girls did when they saw a baby for the first time. "Stop looking at me like that," Jon groaned and shoved his face into his hands. 

They both chuckled only making Jon groan again and then his Dad put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Jon," he said softly, shaking him a little until he pulled his head up. He was smiling at him proudly and still a little misty eyed. "There is nothing to be scared of. Yeah, it's a little uncomfortable the first time but--"

"Wait." Jon blinked confused. "How do you…" he trailed off when he looked at Bruce whose face was undeniably red. "Oh my god," Jon barely squeaked. He took a big gulp of the beer and made a face when it settled on his tongue. Bruce was right. It was horrible. 

The next hour was the longest of Jon's life, but he had to admit that he did at least learn something. When they finally got home way after the time they had promised to be back, all of them were a little drunk and giggling as they crept inside. Everyone was waiting in the living room for them, Damian pacing while the others sat around the coffee table listening to his rant about how they could be dead at this point. He stopped when they stepped guiltily into the doorway looking flushed and wind brushed. He glared as he stomped over to them. 

"Where the hell were you?" He demanded from Jon while his dad and Bruce  _ oohed _ behind him like children. Damian glared at them. "You're not off the hook either," he warned them as their respective spouses took their places on either side of him. 

"The boat engine died and we had to get picked up by the coast guard," Bruce said finally. 

"And you didn't call?" Tim asked, his eyes narrowing. 

"There was no signal," Clark explained. "We had to wait for the coast guard."

"What about when you got closer?" Lois asked, tapping her foot. "You didn't think to try and call then?" 

The three of them exchanged guilty looks before Jon spoke for them. "We… forgot?" He questioned and then for some reason the three of them started giggling again and Damian smiled despite himself. 

"Are you… drunk?" He asked incredulously. 

"No?" Jon asked again and they giggled crazier still. 

" _ Clark, _ " Lous snapped in disapproval. 

Clark wiped his eyes and offered her a smile, reaching out for her. "It was just a couple beers babe," he said earnestly. "He's eighteen now." He started but Lois was shaking her head and walking to the backroom and he followed with a heavy sigh getting ready to be told off. 

Jon had to bite down on his lip to keep from laughing, Bruce straight up covered his mouth to hold in his snickers, leaning on Jon's shoulder while his shook. Tim took over for him, pulling his husband up straight so he could glare at him through his smirk. "So I trust you had a good time?" He asked his mess of a husband as Damian pulled Jon away. 

"I can't believe you got drunk with our dad's," he hissed as soon as they were at the top of the stairs. 

Jon grinned and put his arms around him. "It was fun," he told him simply. "And… educational." He snickered before he kissed Damian hard and deep.

He pushed him down onto the bed when they got close and crawled over him, Damian laughed and made a face as Jon kissed his way up from his stomach to his neck. "Get off of me," he told him halfheartedly as he laughed. "You reek of fish." 

Jon sighed and pushed himself off of the bed, Damian making a noise of complaint and reaching after him. "You're right," he said heavily and ran a hand through his hair. It had gone wild and curly from being out on the water. He kicked off his shoes and pulled at his belt. "I guess I should take a shower," he said like it was a heavy burden as he pulled his shirt over his head. He took a few steps toward the bathroom, heart beating hard as he tried to remember what his Dad and Bruce had told him. Just relax. Have fun. Take your time. Make a moment. He turned on the light to the bathroom and popped the button in his pants. He left them on as he turned on the water and went back to lean in the doorway. "Are you coming?" He asked meaning for it to come out more confidently than it did. But Damian's eyes still lit up in surprise. 

-

Damian looked at his dad as he leaned across the bar frowning at him. He raised an eyebrow and Tim leaned back. His eyes narrowed on him. 

"Dad? Are you okay?" 

"They didn't do it," Tim declared. "My baby is still pure." He heard Bruce snort from where he was helping Cass with her sunscreen. 

"What?" Damian squeaked. He could feel his face heating up. What they had done in the shower the night before didn't feel pure. He looked at Jon who looked guilty as he choked on his cereal. "Jon," he whined. 

"It was an accident!" 

"How do you accidentally talk to my dads about sex?" His voice cracked. He groaned and covered his face. "No. I don't want to know." Jon hugged him and his entire body lit up. He could hear his dad's laughter. He pushed him off and pointed at him. "No. I'm mad at you."

He didn't stay mad very long. He never did. Jon tugged him into the water and let him dunk him until he was laughing. Damian was barely holding back the smile as he kissed him and pushed him under the water one last time. Jon's hands found his hip as he surfaced. He kissed him deeply and kept them upright in the waves. 

"I really didn't mean to," Jon said after he'd thoroughly checked that Damian wasn't angry with him anymore. "If it makes you feel better I had to listen to my dad talk about the sex he had with your dad."

"How would that make it better?" he asked and made a face. 

"I suffered too."

Damian pushed Jon and waded back toward the beach. He yelped when Jon picked him up and dumped him back in the water. They splashed each other and played a pathetic round of tag until Damian crawled out of the water admitting defeat and feeling half drowned and fully baked. He fell down under the giant umbrella next to Tim. 

Everyone else had started up a game of volleyball with the group of guys from the house next to them. 

"You don't want to go play?" Tim asked. 

"I have met my sun quota for today."

"Says the boy that moved to Metropolis." 

Damian huffed a laugh and leaned his head on Tim's shoulder. He watched Jon jump up and slam the ball down in a spray of sand. Jon beamed at him as he turned. Damian smiled and waved. Jon waved back before Clark shoved him back into position. 

"That boy loves you so much." Damian nodded and watched as Jon almost collided with Cass, but he jumped at the last minute and she made the save. "He told your dad he wanted everything to be perfect."

"I do too," he admitted. "It's important right?" 

"Your dad thinks  _ every  _ time is perfect." Damian looked over and caught him rolling his eyes. "So I don't know if I'm the person to ask. But I know that I was more nervous thinking about it all than I was when it was actually happening." 

"Really?" Tim hummed as he nodded. "Cause you trusted dad to take care of you?" 

Tim swallowed and hugged his head. "Yeah." 

Bruce and Clark decided they were going to grill the rest of the fish. Lois and Tim disappeared into the kitchen and didn't appear until halfway through the movie. Lois' cheeks were red and Tim was hugging everything that he stopped next to. Damian watched them out of the corner of his eye. Lois sat down next to Clark and laughed as she fell into his lap. 

"Your mom is drunk," Damian told Jon with a nudge. Jon sat up to look over him. He grunted and leaned back onto his chest. He turned back to the movie and ignored the low conversation behind them. 

A few minutes later Clark walked by with Lois wrapped around him. Her face was tucked into his neck. He wondered if she was awake, then Clark stumbled on a step and he heard her laughter trickle through. 

After they ate Cass headed up to sleep without looking away from her phone. His dads were already gone. They'd called out that they were going for a walk not long after giving them their food. 

Damian looked around the now empty room and felt nervous again. Jon put the plates in the kitchen and then sat down next to him. 

"Do you wa-" 

"We should-" 

They both started and stopped. Jon let out a nervous laugh and took his hand. Damian focused on the warmth of his hand and pushed away the swirls of worry. 

"Let's go to bed," Jon said and stood up. 

Damian felt like he was going to shake apart before Jon had even taken his shirt off. Jon stopped as he kissed his stomach. His eyes met Damian's before Damian pulled them away to look up at the ceiling.

"Are you okay?" Jon asked. Damian nodded, but held onto Jon's hair before he could move any further. Jon laid his cheek on his stomach and looked up at him. Damian closed his eyes. "We can stop."

"I know. I don't know what's wrong with me." Jon shushed him and scooted up until he had wrapped Damian up. 

"What are you thinking about?" 

"What if it's bad?" 

"It won't be," Jon told him. 

"But what if it is. It's supposed to be perfect. But I don't know how to be perfect. And this is what we'll remember. This first bad time. Every time after that we'll think about it. And remember that I-" 

"It'll be perfect just because it's you," Jon said. Damian shook his head. Jon nuzzled against his neck. "You know… our blow jobs weren't that great the first time. But we got better. If we're bad at this, we'll have our whole lives to get better." 

"You promise?" Jon nodded and kissed his neck. Damian shifted and Jon kissed it again. He went slowly kissing the tension out of his shoulders and down his arms. Jon pushed his love into his skin. Made sure that every inch of skin knew the feel of his devotion and Damian was pleading for more. He panted into his elbow as Jon slowly pushed in. His kisses soothed the sparks of discomfort until Damian felt his hips pressed against him. He let out the breath he'd been holding without meaning to, and sagged in Jon's arms. Jon told him how good he felt. How perfect he was. He held onto Jon's hand, gripping tight as Jon pulled out even slower. He watched their rings twinkle in the moonlight and sobbed out as Jon pushed back in. It felt strange. Stranger than Jon's fingers had felt the night before. It felt strange until suddenly it didn't. He surprised himself with the noise he made when Jon hit something inside him and his entire body came alive. Suddenly it felt good. Too good. He held on and pushed back. Jon murmured how close he was and Damian threaded their fingers together as they pumped in time with Jon's thrusts. 

Jon let out a weak noise and suddenly Damian felt warmth fill him up. He trembled as he came. Jon grunted as Damian tightened around him. Jon kissed and breathed against his neck before Damian sank into the mattress blissfully boneless. He pulled Jon down over him when he pulled out. 

Jon kept kissing every bit of skin that he could reach from his prison in Damian's arms. Jon insisted that he clean Damian up and finally managed to pull himself from the circle of Damian's arms. He watched him dart into the bathroom, pale skin catching in the moonlight. Jon wiped his nose with the tip of the towel when he got back and Damian smiled sleepily at him. It felt nice. Jon curled up next to him as he climbed back into the bed. Damian caught his lips before he tucked his head against his chest. 

"H-how was it?" Damian whispered.

"Cosmic," Jon replied. 

Damian laughed and pulled Jon closer.  _ Cosmic.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Epilogue - 
> 
> Jon got drafted, played in the minors not that far from Metropolis while Damian was finishing school. Then took over the Kent farm back in Kansas, where they have SO many cows, a couple barncats and a few pups that have them wrapped around their finger. Damian sells his art, Jon plays for a few years before retiring, and they live happily ever after away from the limelight.

**Author's Note:**

> Be our friends and follow DNA and I on twitter at [@PBrubbs](https://twitter.com/PBrubbs) and [@Dnawhite51](https://twitter.com/Dnawhite51). See the process of our day to day writing frustrations and pictures of our dogs. We are very lame and old and we want to talk to you.


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